I Choose You! (A Pokémon version of How to Train Your Dragon)
by TaylorBeth
Summary: A ten year old girl sets out on a journey into a mysterious and adventurous land where dragons and humans live together. On her quest to become the greatest Dragon Master ever, she encounters many friends and foes. What dangers will she cross? What battles will she encounter? Follow her on her journey as she strives to make her dreams come true.
1. Early Start

Everybody likes Pokémon and everybody likes How to Train Your Dragon, but have you ever seen the two franchises combine? Well, that's what I'm trying to do.

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The morning sun slowly crept from behind the mountains, casting a soft golden glow upon a small and sleepy town. Perched randomly on rooftops, were several Terribly Terrors who started to 'sing' their morning songs. Though it sounded more like a shrieking dragon call that could wake the dead.

As the sun rose higher, its light shined over the quaint little town of Poffalo in the Livid Region. With gentle hills and many oak trees, this was a place I called home. It wasn't much, just a normal little town with a couple of convenient stores and small farms here and there. With a population of 256, you wouldn't exactly call it a city, or lively for that matter. Things are always slow, with no excitement. The only exciting thing you could do was go to Professor Stone's lab on the east side of town. It rested on a small hill that was surrounded by oak trees in front of a driveway. When dragon trainers reached the age limit of ten, they can get their license and go to the lab to choose their own dragon partner. Of course, the guy giving the dragon to the trainer was Professor Stone himself. He's an old man with a scraggly grey beard and squinty grey eyes. His face was littered with wrinkles, giving off on how old he really was, and he didn't exactly have a nice attitude. He was always grumbling at something, whether it annoyed him or not. Everyday, he would wear one of those long white lab coats you would see mad scientists wear on T.V. Guess you can't believe everything that you see on screen, cause Professor Stone is just a normal professor with a passion for learning more about dragons. But like I said, he didn't exactly have a great attitude to match it, though Mom would tell me not to judge a book by its cover, or in this case, lab coat. Turns out, he was a nice man, once you get to know him and if you could get used to him grumbling at you all the time.

But today, I'm seeing him for another reason, not for the sights, but because he has something that I want. That's right, I'm finally ten years old and I can finally go on a journey. So a visit with him is crucial if I want to choose my first dragon partner that I will spend the rest of my life with. I was really excited and pumped up, though, on that morning, you couldn't really tell it.

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The sun peered brightly through my window as my alarm clock blared loudly at me, signaling to me that it's eight o clock and it's time to get up. But I was too drousy to even shout at it to shut up or do what it woke me up for. Instead, I was sprawled out over my bunk bed, my wrinkly blanket half covering me, showing off my purple polka dot pajamas. Getting very annoyed at the clock, I just started to punch blindly at the silence button until it finally shushed. A couple of times, I just drifted back off to sleep until a certain voice screeched at me.

"Ashley! Get up right now!" Mom yelled at me, making me jump and clumsily hit my head on the bed above me.

"Ow!" I rubbed the soar spot on my head, but not really making a big fuss about it. If you're wondering what the other top of the bed is for, I can tell you that I don't have a sibling. It's just an extra bed for when my cousin comes over to stay for the weekend. Right now, she's on her own journey, so she doesn't come by as often.

"Ashley, get up!" Mom screeched again from down stairs, the smell of pancakes wafting through the air. Yeah, my name's Ashley, as you can tell from the shouting.

Grumbling, I forced myself up, sitting on the bed, not even bothering to open my eyes. It took a moment to finally open my droopy eyes to gaze dazedly at my square shaped room. On the floor, by my bed, was a small oval shaped carpet with a dark purple color. It felt soft to my feet because of its fuzziness. Ahead of me, was my beautifully made triple door drawer that was mostly made from oak trees and shined to where it looked beautiful. You can guess what was in there- socks, shorts, and other things. To the left of it was my closet, shirt and pants were hung in there. To the right, was my book case of many books, mostly about dragons. But I don't really care that much about reading, my Mom just stuffs them in there for my own good measure. On the left side of the room, opposite to the door, was the T.V. set under the window with a signal wire sticking out of it. A saggey purple and blue bean bag laid in front of it.

Grumbling some more, I got up, stepping off of the carpet and onto the cold white tiled floor. I just shuffled my feet along, walking slowly through my open door. Yeah, I was feeling more like a zombie, slow and tired. Just staring blankly ahead of me. As I reached the pink bathroom, I yawned and I stretched, raising my arms high above me before setting them down. I came into the bathroom in hopes of waking and refreshing myself by spraying cold water on me. But the drowsiness just continued and I just stood there in front of the mirror, gazing at myself. My long blonde hair was in a messy bed head, my blue eyes sagged from tiredness. I had a skinny body and facial features where I looked pretty but not hot to where I attract every boy around me. And besides, I didn't care if they didn't like me cause I'm not hot looking. With my light tan, blue eyes, and blonde hair, I'm stronger in my heart than in my outside looks.

Slowly, I turned on the faucet and cupped the cold running water into my hands and sprayed it onto my face. The cold gripped me, actually waking me up, but not really getting me out of my daze. Standing there, I just sighed after I turned the water off.

"Ashley Aldez! Get up!" Mom shouted at me from the kitchen again, I guess she thought I was still asleep or something. I am the spitting image of her, blonde hair, blue eyes, all of it. But you could say she was the more older and perkier version of me. Her full name is Lillian Aldez. "Ashley! Get up or you'll be late!" She shouted at me again, the strong smell of pancakes making my stomach growl.

"Late for what?" I asked myself dumbly. Then it suddenly hit me, "Professor Stone! Dragon! Journey! I'VE GOT TO GET MOVING!" Quickly, I raced out of the bathroom, yelling frantically along the way. I tore my jeans and shirt off of their hangers and struggled to put them on. I nearly tripped as I was hopping around to get the jeans on. For today, I was wearing a blue-green T-shirt and blue jeans. I grabbed my blue vest and put it on the complete the outfit. In the bathroom, I was madly brushing out my hair, pulling out a lot of painful tangles.

But before I left, I stopped myself so I could look at my room one last time. My bed, my bookcase, T.V., even the many posters of my favorite Dragon Masters that are hanging on the wall. _I won't be sleeping in here for a while, I'm actually going to miss it,_ I thought to myself. Snapping back to reality, I started to descend down the stairs and walked into the living room. Two tan colored couches were to my left. As well as a T.V. in front of them.

"Finally, you're up," mom smiled nicely. "I made pancakes," she held up a plate of steaming pancakes.

Much to my stomach's complaint, I refused, "Sorry, mom, but I gotta run!" I ran through our door and bolted outside, feeling the sidewalk under my feet. "Eeeeh! I forgot my shoes!" I skidded to a halt and quickly changed course. I rushed back inside the house to see my mom holding my back and white shoes and socks.

"Forget something?" She said, she was used to doing this.

"Thanks mom!" I grabbed my shoes and socks and started to madly put them on. Hopping on one foot as I struggled to get either one of them on while I crossed the sidewalk. After finally getting both of them on, I bolted towards the general direction of the lab. "Aw man! I forgot to brush my teeth too!" I shouted at myself. "Ah, who cares, everybody has morning breath, I'm sure they'll mind mine."

Down a sloping hill, I ran, but not before I saw a figure in my path. I was going too fast, I couldn't stop myself in time.

"Look out!" I shouted but it was too late, I crashed right into the person, knocking both of us painfully over.

"Ugh!" The person groaned with pain, "Watch where you're going, jerk!" The person snapped. I froze when I got a good look at her.

"Samantha Decker?" I said, clearly shocked.

"Well, if it isn't Ashley Lame-o Aldez," she smirked.


	2. Rivals and Choosing

I stared at Samantha as she snickered meanly, "Late again, I see," she scoffed. Samantha Decker was, as you would say, a rival/bully. Her good looks could attract all of the boys in town and make the other girls madly jealous of her. Her long black hair was as dark as coal and was always held up in a proud ponytail. Her beautiful chestnut eyes were always filled with burning ambition, as well as attitude. Her perfect and beautiful oval face displayed her pride and confidence outstandingly, in fact, there was so much pride, nothing could hurt her confidence. Her clothes were just as hot looking, a light pink short sleeves shirt with sky blue decorative designs, skinny blue jeans, and blue and pink tennis shoes. On her back was a dark blue backpack that sort of stood out against the clash bright clothing.

She looked at me, staring at me with laughing eyes, "You're not seriously going to Professor Stone's lab to choose a dragon, are you?" She wasn't taking me seriously, again. I've always been wanting to show her how great I really can be, always challenging her to something. But as always, she would beat me hands down, and always rubs it in my face afterwards.

"Why can't I? I'm old enough to get a license, I can train a dragon if I want too!" I got abruptly up, balling up my fist at her. Instead of taking my hard challenge, she just smoothly got up and brushed the dust from her jeans and placed her hands on her hips sassily.

"I just don't know why you would. You'll always be a loser, you will always come in second place. So why not just give up now and save yourself from future embarrassment?" She shrugged her shoulders, acting as if she's giving me helpful advice. But instead, it boiled me up, I felt like a pot filled with hot water that's about to burst.

"I'll never give up!" I told her hotly. I threatened her with my fist, but at the same time, I was holding myself back from knocking her teeth in.

"Do as you wish, but you'll never pass me in the race for best Dragon Master. In fact, I'm already ahead of you." She waved her hand at me, acting like I'm suppose to be shameful of it.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"I already got my first dragon from the Professor, so, as I can see it, you're already dead last," she laughed meanly.

"Just you wait, Samantha Decker, I'll become a better trainer than you could ever be!" I vowed.

"Hmph, as if," she scoffed, flicking a stray piece of hair from her face. "Well, I've wasted enough of my time here, I've gotta get going if I want to become a Dragon Master all the more quicker." She walked past me, keeping her back straight and head held high in a sassy fashion. "Too-da-loo, Ashley Lame-o Aldez," she flicked her hand at me in goodbye, not even looking at me. My fist coiled in anger.

"Just you wait, Samantha, I swear on my father's spirit, I'll show you who the better trainer is." I vowed darkly.

I ran, ran as fast as I could to the lab. By the time I got there, I was out of breath and my legs were sore and shaking from all of the pressured running. Ignoring that I could probably collapse, I ascended the stone stairs that led to the front door of Professor Stone's lab. When I got there, I had to lean on something so my legs wouldn't fall out from under me from tiredness. When I finally got my wind back, I knocked on the wooden door that had an ornate door handle. Behind it, I heard footsteps before the door clicked open, showing Professor Stone in his usual lab coat but underneath it, he had a creamy colored buttoned shirt and dark brown pants.

"You're late," he grumbled.

"Not "hi" or "good day" or anything?" I asked him, trying to liven up his mood.

"Only trainers who actually arrive on time get my greeting." He grumbled.

"Can't you take a joke?" I asked him.

"Hmph," was all he said.

"Anyway... Can I get my dragon now? I need to get moving!" I was filled with boundless energy, excitement raced in my veins.

"You young people, always in a hurry but don't know where you're going. Fine, I have them inside," he grumbled.

"Great!" I jumped right after him. From a Professor like him, you would expect his lab to be filled with equipment. Things with buttons and strange electronic noises. But no, his laboratory looked more like a normal house. It had book cases with tones of books, a place to sit, a kitchen, and a bedroom for him to sleep in. Farther back was the actual laboratory. In a room, down the hall, was a room that had all of the science equipment along with a teleporter machine that can transport draco-balls around. Those are these little red and white balls that you use to catch dragons. In the middle of the room was a small round table with two draco-balls in the middle.

"Ashley, I want you to meet these dragons," The Professor held the two draco-balls in his hand. "Come on out, you two," he opened the two balls and two Terrible Terrors appeared in front of me. The one on the left had a beautiful blue-green color with a yellow underbelly while the other looked like a normal Terrible Terror. It had brown and green scales and a creamy colored belly.

"A Terrible Terror? Seriously, Professor? They're, like, the smallest dragons ever!" I had to admit, I was sort of hoping for something better.

"Which is why they make great starter dragons." The Professor commented. I grumbled, I was expecting a little bit... more. Like a Deadly Nadder or even a Gronckle. I'll take a Gronckle any day for these pathetic dragons. I've got to admit, I was sort of starting to feel cheated, and I was angry about it. "If it makes you feel better, Samantha chose a Terror too, that's why there's only two." The Professor told me.

"Isn't there... something better? Even if it's a hatchling, I'll take it," I begged him.

"Nope, this is all that I can give out," Professor grumbled agitatedly.

"Hmm..." I guess I have no choice, it's either Terror or I don't start my journey.

"Walk up to one and gently show your hand to them. This way, they can get to know you and they will know if you're the trainer they want." Professor demonstrated, showing his hand to a Terror before retracting it away. I looked at the selection of Terror's, the blue-green one would be to more of my liking. It was a pretty dragon, after all. Slowly, I reached my hand towards the small dragon. _I still can't believe I have to get a Terrible Terror as a partner_ , I thought grimly.

The dragon looked at me with its yellowish eyes, sensing my angry feelings. As my hand got closer, it growled harshly and snapped at me. If it wasn't for my quick reaction, I could've lost a couple of fingers.

"What was that for?!" I growled angrily at it, it just huffed, turning its heads away from me.

"It could sense your feelings, if you don't clean your attitude up, you won't have any dragons." The Professor warned.

"But... I..." But I just gave up. I knew he was right. I just wanted something strong, to show off to Samantha, for all of those years of teasing me and making fun of me, I wanted to give her a mouthful of her own medicine. "You're right," I surrendered. _This is my last chance, if I don't get a dragon now, my journey will be over before it even started,_ I thought to myself as I tentatively reached for the last Terrible Terror, slowly extending a shaky hand. _No, be strong, Ashley, dragons can sense your feelings, and if the sense my fear and uncertainty, they'll never choose me. I vowed to myself that I'll become the greatest Dragon Master in the world. I can't stop now, and I won't give up until the very end._ I closed my eyes as I stopped my hand short and waited. Waited. Waited for the dragon to either bite if off or accept it. _Even if you're a small dragon, we can still fight together. I vowed that I would become the best Dragon Master in the world, but I need a dragon- no, a partner to share my hardships and happiness. But, I promise, we will get stronger... together._

My eyes were still closed, not sure if I wanted to open them or if I will open them. _I choose you,_ I told it in my mind, _but do you choose me?_ There was a soft growling noise from the Terror. And softly, gently, I felt something touch my hand. Something scaley, yet warmth pulsed from it. I dared my eyes to open, and I saw the green Terror with its snout touching my hand. _It choose me._


	3. Test of Friendship

"Great, you have successfully bonded with your dragon. Now, you can start your journey," the Professor informed me. I retracted my hand away from the dragon, excitement started to boil in me.

"Aw, man! I'm so psyched!" I was filling up with energy again, I couldn't wait to get going. "Watch out, Samantha, cause I'm catching up!" I pumped my fist into the air.

"With the bond you have made with your dragon, you'll always be able to stick together, not just as partners, but as friends too," he ignored me so he could get his words of wisdom to me.

"Uh, huh, yeah, sure, can I get going, now?" I was growing impatient.

Professor Stone sighed in defeat, "Here is your dragon-dext," he showed me a small, hand held device with a white doubled ring target decorated on the top. The white target stood out against the bright red color of the device. "This device will tell you the information about the dragon you point it at. Sort of like a talking book with dragon information." He handed me my dragon-dext, it was close to being the size of my hand and could easily fit inside my pocket and it was smooth to the touch. "Open it and point it towards your Terrible Terror," he instructed me.

"Um, okay," I flipped the top lid open to reveal a dark screen on the open lid and small buttons on the base part. I pointed the device towards the Terror and the screen came alive, showing a picture of another Terror in mid-flight.

" _Terrible Terror, the tiny dragon and part of the Stoker Class of dragons. This dragon is known for flying in large packs for protection. But don't judge by its size alone, this dragon can produce a very hot flame. Shot limit: 6."_ A male electronic voice sounded.

"Cool, I can definitely use this," I marveled at the device, it can definitely tell me more about the strongest dragons.

"Now the dragon-dext can withstand almost any force of nature- hot, cold, humid, or just wet, but that doesn't mean you need to be careless with it. Even advanced electronics have their limits, so be careful with it." Professor Stone warned me.

"We'll do," I said as I stuffed the thing into my pocket. He suddenly reached behind him and showed me a small grey tray with five small draco-balls in it. They're small now, but what you do is you push a button on the side to enlarge them before you catch a dragon or if you just want them to come out. This way, they are easier to carry when traveling.

"These are your draco-balls, you're only allowed six at a time. If you catch dragons over the limit of six, you'll have to teleport a dragon you already have so you can use that one. Make sense?" He asked me.

"I guess so, though I'm not really sure." I scratched my head confusingly.

"OK, if you already have six dragons and you caught another one, you'll have to exchange one of them for that one if you want to train it." He explained.

"OK, I get it, now... I think." The Professor grumbled at my uncertain remark but he just continued to explain the physics of the draco-ball.

"Do you know how to catch a dragon with these?" He asked me, just to be sure.

"Do you actually think I'm that dense? Of course I know how, it's dragon catching 101." The way you're suppose to do it is you throw the enlarged draco-ball at the dragon and it gets sucked up in a red beam of light. If the draco-ball dings, it means you have caught yourself a dragon.

"Sometimes you are," he grumbled, I was about to snap at him but I deemed it unnecessary, I didn't exactly want to have another quarrel with him before my journey. Instead, I grabbed my draco-balls from the tray in his hands and stuck them to the helm of my jeans.

"Aw man! I'm so pumped, I can't wait to start my journey!" I started to head out towards the door.

Professor Stone cleared his throat, stopping me, "Aren't you forgetting something?" He nodded towards my Terror, who was just licking its face with its forked tongue dumbly.

"Uh, right, almost forgot," I chuckled awkwardly.

"Here's its draco-ball," he handed me the enlarged ball when I came back. I clicked the button to make it small before I attached it to the helm of my jeans.

"Thanks, Professor, let's go, Terrible Terror," I started to run towardd the door before I skidded to a stop when I noticed it wasn't following me. "Come on, Terror, we've got to get moving!" But the dragon just stayed there on the table, scratching its head with its hind claw happily. "Come on, I don't have all day!" I rushed up to it and grabbed one of it's claws- big mistake. It growled angrily before sending a fireball at my face. I immediately coughed up smoke after a dazing moment. I shook my head to get the soot off before I shouted "What was that for?!" I was losing my temper but the Terror was having a ball. It chortled in an uncontrollable laughing way. I lunged at it but it was too quick, it took to the air then came back to do a hard tackle on me. I fell harshly backwards, the wind almost knocked out of me.

When I saw the Terror swirving back around for another attack, I reacted and grabbed the closest thing around me- a brown book. I held it up and prepared myself for a crash. Well, there was a crash, but instead of tackling the book, the Terror bit into it then stiffened to where it was perfectly straight. It stubbornly held on, not letting go, but I couldn't help but sigh with relief. _Now how am I suppose to get the stupid thing off?_ I wondered.

The Professor laughed, clearly finding this amusing, "I can tell you'll make great partners." He told me.

"Yeah, right," I grumbled as I held on to the book with Terrible Terror still latched to it. Irritatedly, I started to madly shake it, to try and dislodge the dragon but to avail. "Uh, do you mind if I keep the book, Professor?" I asked him.

He sighed, "Well, I've got no choice, Terrible Terror's are known for biting something and never letting go." He told me. An image of my future battle with my Terror played in my mind, only it had the stupid book in its mouth.

"Great," I said miserably.

* * *

I walked down the steps of the lab with the book and Terror in hand. It still refuses to let go and I was getting sick of carrying it like this. Not to mention how embarrassing it is, for once, I'm actually glad Samantha is not here.

At the bottom of the steps, I saw my mom with my backpack in hand.

"Hi, honey, congrats on your first dragon partner. Oh! It's so cute! Though, why is it stuck to a book?" She asked, quizzically looking at the still-stiffed Terror.

"Long story," I grumbled. "All in all, I'm not sure if it was even worth it," I looked down at the dragon when saying that.

"Don't say things like that! Imagine what your father would have said if he heard his daughter talking like that!" She was outraged but then softened her tone a little bit. "If only he could see you now," she softly stroked my cheek.

My father... He passed away when I was only four years old. He died in an accident in the mines not far from here, but they never found the body. I don't remember much, but I do remember his kind, confident, and warm smile. He had blue eyes just like me, only darker and he had light brown hair cut short. Mom would sometimes say that I inherited his stubbornness, though he would call it "determination".

"Yeah, sure," I wanted to drop the subject.

"Can I see it?" She asked me, gesturing to my dragon. I let her grab the book as she looked at the dragon. "Come on now, let go." She softly and calmly said, "You don't want to stay there, do you?" She started to softly scratch its chin. All of a sudden, the Terror's eyes lolled with happiness and it started to let the book go the more mom scratched its chin.

"How did you do that?" I asked her, "Even I couldn't get the Terror off."

"I just showed a little love, that's all," she simply said. "Have you got a name for it, yet?" She asked me as she handed the book back to me, the Terrible Terror sat itself on the ground by her foot.

"Yeah, Stubborn," I crossed my arms.

"Nah, you can't choose a name like that. The name must come from the heart of you and your dragon. It must have meaning to the dragon's personality." She told me.

"Yeah, and it's personality is stubbornness." I huffed.

She shook her head, _she doesn't get it,_ she thought to herself. "Anyway, I got your backpack. And I've packed everything you would need for your journey, there's even a sandwich in there in case you get hungry," she smiled as she held up my backpack. It was a green backpack with a white double ring target displayed on it. The target is sort of a trademark for our culture and is very popular when it's styled in different looks and color. Mostly shown on T-shirts, pants, shoes, and accessories like necklaces as a fancy and meaningful logo.

"Thanks mom," I took the green backpack from her hands, unzipped it, stuffed the book in there, zipped it, then shouldered it on.

"I'm going to miss you so much when you're gone," her hand gently touched my cheek, I could feel the warmth and affection illuminating from her touch.

"I know mom, I'm going to miss you too," I told her softly.

"Just so you know, no matter what hardship you'll face, I'll always be with you in your heart. Your father too." She concluded, I can almost see the tears in her eyes. I knew she didn't want me to go, but I had too.

"Goodbye, mom," I hugged her one last time, fighting a hard lump in my throat.

"Goodbye, Ashley," she let go of me.

"Terrible Terror, let's go!" I started to race down the road, I was actually surprised when it followed me, taking flight just behind me. Whatever sorrow was there, it disappeared as soon as my excitement took over. I was finally on my journey, and nothing was going to stop me.

* * *

 _Famous last words,_ I thought to myself miserably. The Terrible Terror, being the stubborn dragon it is, decided to walk instead of fly. And Terrible Terror's are slower on the ground than in the air, so I had to slow my pace down to a miserable turtle speed. And it wasted a lot of time, it was now three o'clock and there was still at least two miles left until the next town.

"Can't you fly?" I asked it impatiently. It huffed a puff of smoke from its nostrils before turning its head sharply away from me. "Come on, I'd like to get to the next town before nightfall," I complained, but nothing was getting through the Terror. I fought to keep my boiling anger from exploding but I couldn't hold it in any longer. "Come on, dumb dragon! Let's get moving!" I shouted at it angrily. But my outburst didn't affect it one bit, instead, it looked at me with stern eyes before sticking its forked tongue at me. "That's it," I grabbed its draco-ball from the helm of my jeans and enlarged it, "Terrible Terror, return!" The draco-ball shot a red beam of light at the Terror but it dodged it, doing a flip to avoid getting struck. "Come on, at least traveling by draco-ball will be faster, so RETURN!" I shot the beam of light at the Terror again but it only dodged it again. It dug its claws into a nearby oak tree and climbed onto a high branch. From there, it stuck out its tongue at me again. "Why you little..." I growled in anger as the Terror sat comfortably on the branch. I grabbed a rock from the ground, it was about the size of my palm, and prepared to throw it. I so wanted to throw it at my Terror, but instead, I abruptly changed course and threw it into the forest. That took some of the anger out, but I was still furious. It was hopeless, the Terror won't do anything I say. I'd hate to do this to it, but I'd rather have a dragon who will listen to me than one that won't. I turned my back to it, and started to walk away. _It would be better without me anyway,_ I thought.

Then, there was a rustle from the general direction of where I threw the rock. Three angry growls rumbled before three Terrible Terror's appeared in flight. One had a reddish color, the second was a more of a green though a little darker than my Terrible Terror, and the other was a blue-green. Another thing was that they were wild. The blue-green one had a large red bump on its head. When I threw the rock, it must have accidentally struck that Terror. And the three of them were not happy.

"Okay, it was an accident, I didn't know you guys were there, honest," I held my hands out in front of me while slowly backing away. The blue-green dragon suddenly screeched and its two companions charged in towards me. I held up my right arm as a meat shield, hoping it could at least block them. I felt one pair of sharp claws scratching and tearing at it but the other Terror was missing. That was when I felt something ram into my stomach and sent me falling painfully to the ground. The impact sort of made me sick and I lost my breath. I was gasping, trying to catch my breath again as the three dragons faced me, hovering in mid-flight. The blue-green Terror bared its claws and prepared to attack me. I used my arms as a shield and prepared for the worse. The Terror quickly charged in, stretching out its claws while roaring furiously. That was when a bright flash of fire and heat blasted the Terror down. It skidded across the ground before stopping and it took a little bit to get itself back onto its shaky claws. I looked to see my Terror with anger in its eyes and smoke coming from its mouth and nostrils.

 _But why would it save me?_

The blue-green Terror screeched angrily and the other two charged in towards my dragon. My Terror snarled defensively, raising its wings. The two Terror's suddenly launched their flame throwers but my Terror dodged just in time. The only thing that wasn't spared was the now burning and charred branch.

"Hey! Leave it alone!" I shouted at the trio as I got up. Only, they ignored me and continued to fight. The green Terror tackled my Terror, slashing and biting at it. It was then that my Terror grabbed its claws and did a mid-air summersault and finished with a tiny seismic toss. But it wasn't enough, for the rogue Terror was still flying. The red Terror zoomed in for a quick tackle for it to only be dodged by my dragon. The red Terror was coming in too fast and it crashed right into the green Terror. Now it was the blue-green Terror's turn to attack.

From behind, the Terror scratched ferociously at mine before it rammed its head right between the shoulder blades of its wings. This crippled my Terror as its wings retracted in on themselves and it started to lose control. It started to fall.

Quickly, I rushed up to it a caught it before it hit the ground. "Are you okay?" I asked it, it was certain that the Terror has taken a lot of damage by the scratches and bruises, but I couldn't help but ask. It gave a slight murmur in response. Quickly, I raced down the path with my dragon in my arms. I couldn't tell if the trio was following and I didn't care, my dragon needed help. That was when the three Terrors tackled me, sending me flying towards the ground- luckily, my backpack softened their blow but it was like getting hit with a hammer. My palms got skinned from the rough sidewalk as well as my knees upon impact.

My Terrible Terror was sent flying out of my arms before I clashed into the ground and it rolled a foot away from me. Covered in dust, it laid there unmoving. Looking at it, I knew I had to do something. I had to save it. Groaning, I sorely got up, ignoring the stinging pain of my body. There was a long spindly stick beside me, without hesitation, I grabbed it and unsuringly held it up towards the rogue Terrors. I desperately waved it at the dragons, trying to swat them away but they were too quick and I was too sore to even hit them. The red dragon suddenly launched a flame thrower attack at my stick and burnt it to ash. I was gasping with fear, _should I run?_ Then I looked at my wounded Terror. _No, it was my fault it got hurt. So I must protect it like it protected me._

"I'm sorry for the way I treated you before, I know now that it was wrong to get angry at you!" I apologized to my dragon, I wasn't even sure it was listening but I gave it my best shot. "But don't worry, I WILL protect you, I swear it!" I extended my arms on either side of me and stood firm, blocking the way of the rogue Terrors. I will be the shield that protects my dragon. "If you want to get to my dragon, you'll have to go through me!" I shouted daringly at the Terror's. The blue-green one let out a shrill screech before its mouth started to glow firey red along with the other two. I clenched my fists nervously but stood tall. I knew what was coming, but I won't run from it, I will face my opponent head on.

That was when I felt something jump onto my shoulder and looked to see my Terrible Terror jump into the triple flame thrower head on. "No!" I shouted in horror as my Terror let out a loud screech before blasting its own bright flame thrower. The one on three flame throwers collided into a burning ball of fire that let out a piercing light before it exploded, sending powerful and deafening waves that knocked me and my Terror away. I crashed painfully to the ground right beside my dragon and everything went dark for a moment.

* * *

Wounded, dazed, and deaf, I looked at my Terror with confusion. It was only when my mind finally cleared up that I realised what just happened. My Terror slowly opened its eyes, I could tell it was very weak but its eyes shined with unwavering fighting spirit.

"Well, we beat 'em," I said softly to it. It gave a tiny smile and gave a slight purr sound. Its eyes shined brighter now. _That's it._ "Eye-shine," its name had came to me, just like mom said. _You'll always be able to stick together, not just as partners, but as friends too,_ Professor Stone's words rang in my head, so that was what he meant. I now understand, and so does Eye-shine, and we'll stick together... Forever.

* * *

Tell me how you like the story so far or if you don't like it, tell me why. What can I do to improve it? Also, what did you feel like when you first discovered this story? Where you surprised that this is a Pokémon and HTTYD fanfic or are you still skeptical and waiting for something exciting to really catch your eye?


	4. Help of a Stranger

When I awoke from my short blackout, I could tell it was starting to get dark. The tall trees casted growing dark shadows upon the road, signaling that the sun was slowly making its way down and night will be upon us soon. Groaning, I sat up, my stomach lurched with pain in doing so, I guess I'm still feeling the after effects of that tackle. Clenching my stomach, I looked around, there was no rogue Terror's in sight, I guess that blast scared them away. I was so relieved, my right arm was scratched with two inch scratches overlapping each other, my hands were skinned along with my knees. I was pretty banged up. But I didn't realise how I was let off easy until I looked at Eye-shine. Its body was covered in harsh scratches and bruises, its scales were an unusual shade of color, paler than its normal color.

"Eye-shine?" I called to it, but it didn't respond, it just laid there, unmoving except for the slow and weak rising and falling of its chest. "Eye-shine?" I was starting to panic, I reached my hand over and touched its scales. It was definitely cooler than what a Stoker Class dragon's temperature should be. I forced myself up, ignoring the complaint of my sore body and slowly, gently, picked up my hurt dragon. It was definitely sick, I can feel it, that fight must have took out a lot of energy out of it or the wounds are much more serious than I thought. I didn't know that much about wounds, but I do know that a wound get infected over time even if it wasn't serious. "We've got to get to a hospital or a clinic," I told myself. With my dragon in my arms, I started to limp into a run. Now it was a race against time, I just hope I can reach the next town and hopefully they'll have a hospital or something like that to take care of my dragon.

I ran as fast as I could without dropping my dragon, but when I saw it stir and gave a tiny and weak murmur, I ran faster, _I_ have _to get there_. "Please hang in there, Eye-shine, you'll be fine, I promise!" I told it desperately. _It's all my fault, you got hurt because of my selfishness. And now, I could lose my only friend,_ I thought to myself, coming close to crying. That was when I noticed a figure in the road but it was too late. I crashed right into the person, making both of us grunt but me fall to the ground. "Oow!" I winced. I looked at the guy, it had gotten so dark that I couldn't see him while I was running but I could see him now. He had short and spiky dark brown hair, and I'm saying it was spiky. Uneven jagged bits of hair poked out all over his head. He had a brown T-shirt on, worn out jeans, a belt with six draco-balls on it, and scrappy black tennis shoes. He had grey eyes and looks of a fifteen year old. Then I realised he had my Terror in his arms. "Hey! Give me back my dragon!" I demanded as I got up.

"Do you know what state your dragon is in now? It's very weak, it needs to be brought to a Dragon Center right away!" He shouted at me tensely.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" I snapped at him as I grabbed Eye-shine away from him.

"You're a pretty bad trainer if you let your dragon get in that condition, I feel sorry for it. What did you do? Battle with it until it had nothing left?" He accused.

"That's not what happened!" I growled. "Those wild Terror's attacked us and Eye-shine was only protecting me!" I glared at him. I saw him take a glimpse of my badly scratched arm and knew that I was telling the truth.

"Bad news is... there is no Dragon Center around here for another mile. If you're stuck on running, you won't be able to reach it before nightfall really kicks in." He told me then he looked at my dragon with concern, "And I don't think your dragon can hold out much longer."

"Well, isn't there somewhere where I can get my dragon healed? Please, I have to save it!" I was desperate, normally I wouldn't take advice from a jerk but I've got no choice.

"Hmm," the boy thought for a moment. "Let's try the next best thing, let me patch up your dragon," he insisted.

"You really know how to do it?" I asked, looking at him, he didn't exactly look like he could be a healer. He just didn't have that charm.

"Yes, I was taught by my dad, now, we can stand here bickering or I can help make your dragon feel better." _I guess I have no choice,_ I thought.

"Fine," I agreed.

"Ok, let's go," he beckoned me to follow him.

"Where?" I asked.

"To my camp, that's where all of my supplies are including healing herbs." He walked down the road with me following close behind. "There it is," he pointed to a dome shaped tent with a cold campfire in front of it. Quickly, he placed some sticks and large pieces of wood onto the fireplace. Then I saw him grab a draco-ball from his belt.

"What's that?" I asked him.

"My partner. Fin and Tin, come on out!" He tossed the draco-ball into the air, it made a popping sound as it opened and a large two headed dragon appeared. I nearly shrieked of surprise when I saw how big it was. Remembering my dragon-dext, I grabbed it out of my pocket and pointed the thing towards the dragon.

" _Hideous Zippleback, the two headed dragon and part of the Mystery Class of dragons. The right head sprays a toxic green gas while the left head sparks it- creating a very big explosion. When these two heads fight, it is almost impossible to stop them."_ Dexter replied.

"Cool, a Hideous Zippleback," I marveled at the dragon. It had a green color with brown speckles running all over his slender body. What was amazing was how the long necks and tail makes the dragon look so much bigger.

"Alright, Fin, use gas attack on the fireplace, but only a smidge," he told his dragon firmly. The right head, "Fin", lowered itself to where it was close to the fireplace and let out a ridiculously small puff of green smoke. "Alright, Tin, spark attack," the left head lowered itself down near the puff of smoke, a popping spark flared out of its mouth before a tiny explosion erupted when the sparks touched the smoke. The fireplace flamed with life afterward. I had to say it, I was impressed, I've never seen a gas and spark attack in action unless you count watching it on T.V. Granted it was a tiny one, but when you really put some gas onto it, I can expect the outcome. "Now let's get your Terror healed up," the guy told me as he beckoned me to hand my dragon to him. I didn't exactly want to let go of it, I felt like it was safer in my arms than his, but I had no choice.

"Be careful with it," I said softly as I put Eye-shine into his arms,

"I will, don't worry," he then turned around, crouched close to the ground, and set the Terror on some soft leaves. Gently, expertly, he put his hand on my Terror to feel its temperature. "It's definitely cooler than what a Stoker Class should be," he told me.

"I know that, already," I grumbled.

"What exactly happened?" He asked me. I explained how the three rogue Terrors attacked me, leaving out how it was my fault, and then told him about that huge blast that Eye-shine created.

"Hm, it could be suffering from lack of flame." He concluded.

"What's "lack of flame"?" I asked him.

"It's something that Stoker Class and trainers have to be _very_ careful of. It's where they can't produce any flame and it leaves them seriously weak. If not helped, it could get serious enough that they can die. It is mostly caused by old age, injury, or exhaustion and is only known in Stoker Class types because their defense is mostly fire. That blast you described probably took a lot out of it to handle three flame throwers, it doesn't help that it's injured too." The person was in deep thought.

"Do you have a cure?" I asked him.

"Not on me, we'll have to go to the Dragon Center or a pharmacy to get the Fireworm venom. But I can lend your dragon a little energy and warmth to get through the night until morning." He told me.

"It's name is Eye-shine," I told him hotly.

"Eye-shine, sorry," he corrected himself. He checked my dragon again. "Well, luckily it will be fine after a good rest but the effects will carry on. We'll have to race for the Center in the morning," he told me.

"Why can't we just go now?!" I was getting impatient, we could be running straight to the Center now instead of staying here.

"It's bloomin' dark, if you went out now, you'd get lost. I have one dragon to take care of, I don't need to take care of an annoying little girl." He huffed.

"I'm not just a "girl", I'm Ashley Aldez of Poffalo Town with dreams of becoming the greatest Dragon Master in the world!" I shouted at him.

"Great, while we're introducing ourselves, I'm Aldor, and I want to be the best Mystery Class trainer there is. Nice to meet you, Ashley Aldez of Poffalo Town," he thrusted his hand forward, expecting me to shake it.

"Hmph, just Ashley," I crossed my arms, refusing to shake his hand.

"Stubborn, sheesh," he exclaimed.

"No, I just don't want to shake hands with _you,_ " I huffed.

"What is your problem? I'm trying my best to heal your dragon, and yet, you're shoving me off," I could tell he was getting a little when he suddenly got up.

"That's just it! It's my dragon I'm worried about, I'm just...," I couldn't find my voice as I hugged myself, I actually felt alone. It wasn't a new feeling, but it had a different taste to it. "It was my fault it got hurt. I just got it and it wouldn't listen to me. I got angry with it, I even threatened to throw a rock at it. But I thought twice and threw it in the other direction. That was when they attacked." I showed the long scratches on my arms, "They attacked me, but, Eye-shine protected me, even though I got angry with it."

"So you blame yourself," Aldor nodded in understandment.

"Eye-shine is now my only friend, and I don't want to lose it," I was feeling really depressed, I closed my eyes tightly. That was when I felt something firm on my shoulder. I looked to see Aldor right next to me.

"Eye-shine will be fine, I promise, and once it wakes up, I'm sure you'll be great friends again." He assured me.

"Thanks," I said softly. On the small patch of leaves, Eye-shine stirred a little bit.

"I'll do all I can," he promised before he went back to my dragon. He dug into a big backpack that was near him and got out two medicine bottles. Throughout the night, he mixed different herds and medicines. He told me it was a brew to give it some energy to keep what's left of its fire stimulated. Afterward, he put a blanket over it to keep it warm.

"You need to rest," he insisted.

"I'm not tired," I grumbled, but in truth, I really am. But I had to stay by my dragon's side.

"Well, I am," he grumbled before he retreated into his tent.

Sighing, I sat down beside Eye-shine, who was breathing subtly, "Oh, Eye-shine," I placed a hand on its cool scales. I switched from sitting position to laying down beside my dragon. Soon after, I fell soundly asleep with my arm over my dragon.

* * *

What will be the outcome of Eye-shine? Will they make it to the Dragon Center in time? Stay tuned.


	5. Battling with Power

By next morning, before the sun had a chance to show itself, Ashley, with Eye-shine in her arms, and Aldor were racing for the Dragon Center in Rubble Town. I know, strange name, but people would say the Poffalo Town had such of a weird name as you can get. When we finally got there, it was about eight something in the morning and already the town was busy. And it wasn't just a normal town either, it was way bigger than my town and way busier. On either side of the stone paved streets were two story wooden buildings, most of them were shops for trade and the signs they posted told me that.

"This way!" Aldor took the lead, leading me towards the center of the busy town. The trip was slow, considering we had to cross through the maze of people, but we finally made it. At first, we saw a giant stone fountain with a dragon of some sort spraying water out of its mouth. Beautifully stone caved waves held up the dragon.

"There it is!" Aldor shouted, pointing at a large grey building with a slanted roof. A red double target was displayed in the front of the building as well as sliding glass doors and two large windows that displayed on either side of the doors.

Quickly, we raced through the doors and into the white and fresh smelling building. Inside had an assortment of couches and chairs for trainers to sit on and a coffee table with magazines on them. Plants were placed here and there to give a sort of homey feeling to it. But the decor wasn't the only thing in there, there was tons of trainers too. Most of them had dragons that I had never seen before. But this was no time to dilly dally, I had my own dragon to think about.

Aldor led me to the counter that had a pretty woman in a purple nurse outfit and hat standing behind it. Her black hair was tied in a tight bun.

"Welcome to the Dragon Center, where we take care of all sick and injured dragons." She greeted. "My name is Nurse Lavender, how may I help you?" She smiled warmly.

"We have a sick Stoker Class who is suffering from lack of flame." Aldor said urgently, I showed her my pale Terror. She leaned forward and gently touched the dragons' head.

"Don't worry, this Terror will be just fine when I give it some medicine." She told me after she moved her hand away. "It will back to normal in no time at all," she said assuringly while giving a sweet smile.

"Please take care of it," I told her as I gave the dragon to her.

"There's nothing to worry about, I promise." She cradled my Terror in her arms before walking into another room. A light above the door lit up, signaling that all I could do is wait. But I was worried.

"Don't worry, Eye-shine will better in no time at the hands of Nurse Lavender." Aldor assured me before he headed towards the couches.

"I hope so," I followed him to the couches and chose to wait there. But the longer time drew on, the more I was getting agitated, seriously, I was tapping my foot or my finger on anything they were on. I even managed to get Aldor to shout at me to stop, that was when I turned to pacing instead.

"Ugh, Ashley, relax! You're going to wear out the floor." Aldor was getting very annoyed at my pacing as well.

"What if something happened? It shouldn't take this long unless it was that serious," I continued to pace.

"I told you, there's no need to worry, Nurse Lavender will take care of it and you'll have your dragon back as good as new." Aldor told me. I groaned with irritation.

"Yo, yo, what's with the fuss, yo?" A weird sounding female voice sounded, startling both me and Aldor. We looked behind us to see an awkward looking girl with her hands on her hips in a spunky way. Her black hair was cut short, like a boy's, only the bangs were left long and they slashed over the left side of her face, and mostly covering her left eye. Their tips were also dyed a dark blue color. She also had dark blue eyes that had a sort of upbeat and laid back kind of look to them. Her black shirt was cut short, showing her skinny stomach in a hot way and the chest part had the word "PEACE" in white graffiti or bubble letters or however you would call it. Her blue jean shorts were incredibly short and there was an i-Pod sticking out of her left pocket. She also had a light tan but the most weirdest thing about her was that she had no shoes in public, only a string bracelet was tied to her right ankle.

"What?" I asked her, very confused.

Yo, man, I could hear you pacing all the way to the counter. You need to chill out!" She held up a peace sign with her right hand, held her left hand on her hip, and winked with her left eye that was partly showing through the blue tipped bangs of hers.

"Um, I would if I could, but, right now, my dragon is in the operating room," I said gloomly.

"Yo, major coinkydink, my dragon is getting healed too. It just got done with a wicked battle, and we smoked our opponent!" She said with enthusiasm.

"So you're a trainer, did you just become a trainer?" Aldor asked her.

"Bingo! Week two and countin'," she held up two fingers, did that pose, and winked with her left eye again- I guess it's her signature move. Then she suddenly rushed at me, grabbed my right hand, and shook it crazily fast. "Yo, name's Lyza, friends call me Lyz, and I'm training to become a Dragon Master. What's your name!" She asked me, bursting with more energy than I can handle.

"I'm... Ashley... Aldez," I said, fighting to not stutter so much cause of her shaking my hand so fast. My arm was starting to feel tired.

"And my name's Aldor," Aldor greeted.

"Woah, awesome, new friends, Ash and Al," she finally let go of my hand and did a little salute in greeting, "great to meet ya, yo!"

"Actually, it's Ashley," I chuckled awkwardly.

"And it's Aldor, not " Al"," he corrected the girl.

"Yo, yo, like the nicknames? I call everybody by their nicknames, yo." She held up a "rock on" sign with her right hand.

"Um..." I wasn't sure how to respond to this.

"I guess it could have been worse?" Aldor shrugged with uncertainty.

"What could be worse? We've just met a weirdo that does a pose and has no shoes. I can't wait for the next thing to come up," I said sarcastically.

"I guess it's her style, people have different personalities. But she's not that weird, have you ever heard of "don't judge a book by its cover"?" He asked me.

"Unfortunately, yes," I grumbled.

"Yo, watcha talkin' about, yo?" Lyza broke through our conversation.

"Uh, nothing Lyza, just saying it's great to meet you," Aldor bluffed.

"Ah, sweet! But you don't need to call me Lyza, just call me Lyz. We are friends after all" She insisted. Thankfully, a little announcement bell rung and Nurse Joy came out of the room with my Terribly Terror, who was smiling as happy as can be.

"I'm happy to report that your Terror is back to normal," Nurse Lavender said as I came to the counter.

"Eye-shine, I'm so glad you're okay!" I giggled as Eye-shine jumped into my arms then crawled up to my shoulder. "Eye-shine, can you ever forgive me?" I asked it, it let out happy growl before rubbing its face against mine. "Ah, thanks Eye-shine," I rubbed its head with my hand affectionately.

"So, you named it Eye-shine, huh?" Lyz came up behind me.

"Uh, yeah," I told her.

"AWESOME! What wicked name, man, it suits the dragon AWESOMELY, yo!" She was bursting with her unknown energy again.

"Uh, thanks," I chuckled awkwardly.

"Lyza," Nurse Lavender got her attention, "your dragon is going to take a little bit before it is back to full health. So, I'm afraid you'll have to wait." Nurse Lavender informed her.

"No prob, yo! I'll just get some food in the cafeteria." Lyz smiled, at the word "cafeteria", my stomach let out a noisy growl.

"Food does sound good, I haven't eaten since, well, I don't know when," I clenched my stomach.

"Yeah, I'm getting kinda hungry too," Aldor admitted.

"Well, how about y'all eat with me, yo? Breakfast is on me, yo!" Lyz told us.

"I don't know, we don't want to intrude or anything," Aldor scratched the back of his head.

"It's no problemo, really, yo," Lyz smiled. Me and Aldor nodded to ourselves.

"Sure, why not?" I shrugged.

"Awesome! Yo, cafeteria is that way!" She led us to a hall on the right that then curved into a giant cafeteria. Well, you wouldn't really call it a cafeteria, it was more like a café with nice tables, and great smelling food, though my nose was leading me towards the fresh waffles.

It took a few minutes, but we finally got our breakfast, my order- a plate full of steaming pancakes drenched with syrup and a saucer of scrambled eggs on the side. And at a reasonable price too, so we wouldn't owe Lyz that much.

Afterwards, we chose a booth with comfy brown leather seats that was the perfect size for our small group. Aldor sat with me on one end while Lyz sat on the opposite end. She wasn't completely left out, Eye-shine was sitting with her, I guess it had grown attached to her and even _likes_ her. I don't know why, she was so weird, but Eye-shine wasn't worried one bit. Instead, it was gorging on some dragon food that Aldor gave it.

"So, Lyz, I've got to ask you something." Aldor spoke up. "Why don't you have any shoes?" He asked her. It was a weird question, really, but I was wondering that myself. Usually, people have their shoes _on_ in public places.

"Well, I guess you can say I like the earth, yo!" She did an upside down peace sign.

"You like the earth?" I questioned, _ok, she's not just weird, she's super-duper weird._

"Haha," she laughed heartily, "yeah, I like to get really in tune with it, man. When I was young, my family used to own a house that was surrounded by fields and fields of soft grass and trees and beautiful mountains. I hardly ever wore my shoes then because it felt so good and free. But then, we moved to the city and, well, it became a nightmare. Everything I had ever loved was gone, so I tried to bring what I loved to me. I know it is a little awkward, and I know ya'll think I'm weird. Everybody does. But that doesn't hurt me, I'm my own person, yo, I am who I am and you can't say I can't. That's my motto, yo!" She smiled.

"Now I understand." Aldor nodded slowly.

 _Me too, I take everything back. She may be weird, talk weird even, but she's a nice girl. And I know what it feels like to have something_ _taken away from you._

"I have flip-flops in my bag if I need to use 'em, but I usually just go barefoot." She told us.

"Where is your bag?" Aldor looked around but saw no sign of a bag.

"Ah, it's in my rented room, yo, I don't carry it everywhere ya know?" Lyz laughed. As we continued to eat, she kept talking about how she wanted to return to her home one day. When she's old enough, and got enough money, she will return and build a small and comfy little home. There, she will stay forever. Right now, she was a trainer, and she was ready to take on any challenge.

"Lyza, your dragon is all healed and ready to go," Nurse Lavender's voice sounded on the intercom.

"Ah, great, perfect timing!" Lyz jumped up and rushed out of the cafeteria. I wolfed down a couple bites of my leftover waffle before racing after her and Aldor.

At the counter, "Here you go," Nurse Lavender gave Lyz's draco-ball with a smile.

"Ah, thanks Nurse Lavender," Lyz turned her attention to the draco-ball, "glad you're feeling better, man," she smiled as she talked to her draco-ball.

"So, Ash," she got my attention, "how about a battle?" She asked me, crossing her arms as she waited for my decision.

"Um... A battle?" I was unsure.

"Come on, Ashley, it's great practice, you're going to need to get ready if you want to challenge the gyms," Aldor suggested.

"What are gyms?" I asked them.

"What?!" Both Aldor and Lyz exclaimed.

"You don't know what gyms are? I thought you wanted to be a Dragon Master. Man, you're slow," Lyz crossed her arms.

"I've only been a trainer for a day and of course I do!" I defended myself.

"Ugh, well, gyms are not like normal battles with trainers. They are more tense, and require a lot of strategy. Each gym has a badge, win eight badges, and you can qualify to battle in the Dragon League." Aldor explained.

"It's, like, the only way to become a Master, yo!" Lyz spoke up.

"Ok, so let's go! Sure I'll battle you if it can get me to the League that much faster!" I showed my fist to her. "I accept your challenge!"

* * *

"This battle between Lyz and Ashley will now begin!" Aldor demanded in a firm voice, standing on the sidelines of a big battle field that was behind the Dragon Center. The battle field was split equally by a white line and a trainer took up one of two sides while the opponent took the other. They stand in what is called a "trainer's box" where they command their dragons at. Lyz took the left side, and I took the right. "This is a one on one battle with no substitutions! The winner will be decided on which dragon is left standing. Trainers, choose your dragons!" Aldor shouted to us commandingly, sounding like an actual referee.

"Right, Eye-shine, this is our first battle, but let's do our best. Eye-shine, I choose you!" Eye-shine jumped into the battlefield, growling with determination while raising its wings defensively.

"Alright, let's rock n' roll, Zaza, my dragon! I choose you, yo!" Lyz tossed the draco-ball into the air, it made a popping sound as a large dragon came out. It had a spiky frill and a large nasal horn. It was a bipedal dragon, meaning it only walked on two legs but it had no forelimbs, just two gorgeous wings. It also had a long and strangely bumpy tail. Its scales were dappled with beautiful blues and greens and a cream colored belly.

"What's that dragon?" I fumbled for my dragon-dext and pointed it at the dragon.

" _Deadly Nadder, the spike-tail dragon and part of the Tracker Class of dragons. This dragon is able to launch deadly spikes from its tail that are powerful enough to split boulders. This dragon also has a keen sense of smell that makes up for its blind spot in front of its nose."_ Dexter replied.

"Wow, a Deadly Nadder, it's definitely a pretty dragon," I marveled at the dapples of blues and greens. It was so exotic.

"Amazin' right? Zaza's one of a kind, and she's my friend and partner." Lyz bragged.

"But I don't see any spikes unless you count the frill and horn," I looked but I couldn't see them.

"That's because they're hidden, yo! Zaza, show them, please." Lyz smiled wickedly as Zaza gave a shrieking roar before tons of spikes sprung out of her tail. That's how I didn't see them before, they were laid down and only sprung up when Zaza needed them.

"Deadly Nadders' also unleash their spikes when they're surprised or if they sense danger, well, let's just say it's an early warning sign." Aldor explained to me.

"It is a very cool dragon, now I want a Deadly Nadder," _but how am I going to catch it?_

"Don't worry, man, focus on our battle for now, yo!"

"Right! Let's do it!" I was bursting with energy again, so was Eye-shine.

"Alright, trainers' ready?" He held up his hand, ready to give the signal.

"Ready!" Me and Lyz both said.

"BEGIN!" He threw his hand down like a flag, now it was on.

"Quick, Zaza, use magnesium blast!" Lyz reacted, and Zaza responded with a sparkly yellow-white flame with tints of purple in it. The flame thrower sparked as it zoomed towards Eye-shine.

"Quick, Ashley, call out a move!" Aldor shouted at me.

"D-dodge!" I stuttered, barely making the words come out of my mouth before the impact. Luckily, Eye-shine snaked her way out of it in time- I sighed with relief. "What was that move?" I asked myself.

"It was a magnesium blast, it's a special move that only Deadly Nadders' know, why don't you look up your dragon's moves with your dragon-dext, yo," Lyz advised.

"Uh, right," I brought out the device again, opened it, and scanned my Terror, and took a quick glance at the screen. "Right, got it," I put it away. "Thanks for the tip."

"No prob, bro, just give me a good battle, yo!" _I could tell Lyz was pumped. Well, I've got to show her my fighting spirit._

"Oh yeah, I'll give you one you won't forget!" I said boastfully. "Alright, here we come, Eye-shine, flame thrower!" I commanded. Eye-shine took flight and shot a stream of fire towards the Nadder.

"Pfft, no prob, block it, Zaza," Lyz waved her hand as if it wasn't nothing. Zaza reacted and used her wings as a shield from the flame thrower. This surprised both me and Eye-shine.

"What? But how?"

"Ashley, Deadly Nadders have a strong attack and good defense. You're at a disadvantage because Nadders are impervious to fire, which means they're fireproof! And Eye-shine is a Stoker Class dragon!" Aldor shouted at me.

 _So fire attacks won't do anything, huh? Well, I've got something else up my sleeve._ "Alright, Eye-shine, get in close!" I ordered. Eye-shine chirped as it flew towards the Nadder.

"Zaza, magnesium blast! Stop that Terrible Terror in its tracks" Lyz shouted. Sparks flew as the Nadder launched its attack. Even though it was a special attack, it's still a fire type move, so that damage is minimal.

"Swerve around it! Use your agility!" I shouted at my Terror. Eye-shine did a loop-the-loop in mid flight around the sparking magnesium blast, surpassing it completely. "Good job, now it's our turn. Use tackle!" I shouted. Eye-shine started to do a head on barrel roll, building up more power as it got closer.

"Oh, no, you don't, fly Zaza!" Lyz reacted. Zaza suddenly spread its enormous wings and took flight, spraying dust everywhere as it flapped its wings. I growled in annoyance, _we were so close._

"Chase after it!" _Aw man, this is epic. I've watched so many battles, but nothing is like actually doing the battle. It definitely gets your veins burning with excitement and_ adrenaline. Eye-shine skidded to a halt and flew upwards to catch up to the Nadder.

"Oh, we're having a race? Alright, bring the heat, yo! Zaza, dive, now!" Lyz shouted. Zaza folded in its wings and quickly started to zoomed down to earth with Eye-shine hot on her tail.

"Stay on it!" I told it.

"Now, upwards spiral!" Lyz did a little spin as she was saying that. Zaza roared before abruptly moving upwards while spiraling, making it hard for Eye-shine to follow. Eye-shine was starting to get slower and slower by the second, soon it will be completely worn out. This was Lyz's plan all along. She led you to a speed race, a depending on how much stamina your dragon has, it's going to get worn out pretty fast.

"Eye-shine, come back!" Eye-shine heard my voice and dived towards the ground and landed on the battle field on my side.

"Smart move," Lyz smiled as her Nadder made a thunderous landing. Zaza stared at Eye-shine with hard eyes.

 _What can I do? Their speed and power are incredible._

"I think it's time to show them our other specialty move." Lyz said confidently. Zaza raised her wings in a defensive posture while raising her stiff and unspiked tail.

"Oh, no," I knew what was coming.

"Spine shot, now!" Zaza spiked her tail with a clear _"click"_ sound before launching them forcefully at Eye-shine.

"Eye-shine, get out of the way!" I yelled desperately, but it was too late. The spikes had pinned Eye-shine to the ground with no hope of escape. "Eye-shine!" I shouted to it desperately.

"Finish this with magnesium blast!" Lyz yelled with triumph. Zaza's mouth started to glow as it prepared to launch its attack.

"Hold it!" Aldor's voice cut through the battle, making Zaza forcefully gulped down her flame, smoke started to seep out of her nostrils and mouth and she started panting.

"Why, Al, I was just about to win, man!" Lyz complained.

"It's already certain that you're the winner, but I think Eye-shine had enough, it is its first battle." Aldor told her.

"Hmm, alright, I understand." She grabbed her draco-ball and pointed towards Zaza, "Zaza, return," a red beam of light shot at Zaza and drew it back into the draco-ball. "Nice job, Zaza, you were great, man," Lyz smiled.

Meanwhile, I was helping Eye-shine out of its predicament. When it was finally free, I stroked it head. "We lost, but you fought well, I'm proud of you," Eye-shine purred at the sound of my kind words.

"Yo, Ash!" Lyz called to me.

"Huh?" I looked up to see Lyz standing over me.

"Great battle, man, I had fun," she extended a hand, I grabbed it and pulled myself up.

"Thanks, I've learned a lot," I smiled.

"Me too, yo!" She held up a peace sign and winked.

* * *

"You're leaving?" I asked her as she shouldered on her small pouch bag. It was only 1:00 pm, yet, she's moving on.

"Yep, dragons aren't going to catch themselves, ya know? So I've gotta keep on moving, yo," she winked at me. "But we'll see each other again, right at the Dragon League finals," she promised.

"I'll be there," I said determinedly, extending a hand. She shook with a smile before letting go. _It was a deal._

"Al, you take care of yourself too, man," she extended her own hand and Aldor shook it.

"You know it."

"Yo, yo, goodbye, yo, and good luck" she did her signature move before running off to who knows where her adventures will lead her too.

"Congratulations, you've got your first rival, but she won't be the last, that's for sure." Aldor chuckled while putting his hand on my shoulder.

"You're right, so I'll just have to train harder and get a lot stronger, and catch more dragons too. And I'll beat Samantha for sure!" I clenched my fist, I was ready to fight, fight for the road to victory.

"Who's Samantha?" Aldor asked me.

"Ooh!" I grumbled irritedly.


	6. The Fearful Reach

Sorry for the wait everyone, this week has just been INSANE for me. But here it is, chapter 6, enjoy.

* * *

By next morning, I was so psyched. Before the sun even had a chance to show itself, I was busily getting ready. Brushing my long blonde hair roughly before turning around to brush my teeth. I was ready to start traveling, adventures and dragons await me. I shrugged my blue vest on, sighing huffily.

"Ready," I said to myself before shouldering my backpack on. I turned the door handle to my rented room at the Dragon Center, walked through it, and closed it behind me. I walked down the cold hallway, bursting with energy. "I'm so ready!" I exclaimed as I was nearing the lobby.

"Ready for what?" A voice came up behind me, startling me a bit.

"Aldor! Don't sneak up on me like that!" He looked like he could use a little more sleep. His shoulders drooped, his eyes had dark bags under them, and his hair was in the messiest bed head I've ever seen. He was still in his boxers but he had a long white shirt on to cover his torso. "What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"Well, when you came down the hall, it sounded like a Gronkle was stomping through it. It woke me up." He huffed.

"Now you're saying that I sound like a Gronkle when I walk?" I was peeved, he insulted me right in my face.

"All I'm saying is that you should walk quieter or trainers will think you _are_ a Gronkle. Anyway, ready for what?" He repeated his question from earlier.

"I'm ready to get going! I want to catch as many dragons I can so I'll be ready for the Gym's and, soon, the Dragon League!" I clenched my fist determinedly.

"In your bare feet?" Aldor raised an eyebrow.

"Uh..." I stupidly looked down to see that I didn't have any shoes on. Nor socks on for that matter. "Hehe, I was wondering why my feet were so cold," I chuckled awkwardly as I scratched the back of my head, _so embarrassing._

"Uh, huh," he crossed his arms over his chest, "and where's Eye-shine, I don't see it either."

"Uh, yeah, forgot it too, apparently." I smiled weakly, trying to act like I was making a joke out of it.

"Part of the job with a trainer is to not lose your dragon!" He shook his head, "Amateur," he muttered while facepalming himself.

"OK, OK, I get the point! I'll get it and my shoes," I threw my hands up in surrender before walking back into the hallway and into my room. I noticed that Aldor went back to his own room too, probably to get out of his nightgown and into his day clothes.

I walked back into my room and hunted for my shoes. Successfully finding them, I quickly put on my socks before putting my shoes on, tying the shoe-string very tight afterwards.

On the bed, Eye-shine was still sleeping on it, curled comfortably on it, with its arrow tipped tail close to its nose and wings folded neatly.

"Eye-shine," I gently shook it. It made a grumbling sound before drowsily lifting its head. Its eyes drooped before giving a massive yawn, smoke seeped out of its mouth. "Come on, Eye-shine, it's morning," I said softly to it while smiling happily. It grumbled lazily before setting its head down. "Come on, I got up, so must you," I gently picked up its scaly body and cradled it. I carried it into the hall, from there, I saw Aldor all dressed with his usual brown shirt and faded jeans and sort of has his hair brushed- it was still spiky though.

"Great, you've gotten everything," he yawned. Then he noticed my Terrible Terror still sleeping. "Maybe you should consider staying for a little bit, until the sun is at a reasonable height." He advised.

"Come on, I want to catch some dragons now!" I grumbled.

"Come on, Ashley, the wild Terror's hadn't even begun to sing their morning songs yet," he crossed his arms, "and I thought _they_ were annoying." He huffed. I grumbled at his insult but I let it slide.

"But I want to get going, those badges aren't going to win themselves." I admit, I was persistent and stubborn.

"At least call Eye-shine into its draco-ball so it can continue to sleep." He advised.

"Uh, right," I was used to having Eye-shine, that I almost didn't want to call it back. But it was for its own good. I grabbed its draco-ball from my belt and pointed it towards it. "Eye-shine, return," a red beam of light shot out of the draco-ball. Just then, Eye-shine opened its eyes and jumped out of my arms before the beam of light touched it. I watched as Eye-shine skittered towards Aldor and cowered behind his leg, shivering. "Not again," I moaned gloomily.

"This has happened before?" Aldor turned himself awkwardly so he could get a good look at Eye-shine.

"Yeah, it still won't go into its draco-ball."

"Hm, maybe it's because it doesn't like it." Aldor suggested.

"But why? All dragons go into their draco-ball, why would Eye-shine have a problem with it?" I asked him.

"Well, like humans, dragons have varying personalities. Maybe Eye-shine doesn't like the feeling of being cramped into it. You know, it gets spooked when stuck in a tight space and can't move at all." He explained.

"Isn't that what they call claustrophobic?"

"Yeah, something like that?" Aldor shrugged.

"Well, in that case," I put the draco-ball away, making Eye-shine feel a little bit at ease, "it can hang out here with me." _I was sort of wanting it to stay out and keep me company anyway._ Eye-shine chirped as it jumped onto my shoulder. It purred before it licked my right cheek with its slobbery tongue. "Thanks, but, ew," but I couldn't help but laugh a little bit.

* * *

Aldor convinced me, so I stayed at the Dragon Center for a little bit. Giving the sun a chance to get over the mountains and a chance to get some breakfast into my stomach.

While I was wolfing down some syrup drenched pancakes and orange juice, Aldor was glancing at a big map. Eye-shine was on the floor, eating the pellet dragon food in big mouthfuls.

"Alright, looks like the closest Gym from here is... in Clear-Glass City." Then he dug into his bag and got out a green book with " _Traveler's Guide"_ written on it. "It says here that Clear-Glass City is the third largest city in the Livid Region. With one million, six hundred and sixty two people living there, and more people are coming there everyday." Aldor reported before setting the book down.

Energy bursted in me, "I can't wait to go! I've never been to a city, it's going to be exciting!" I exclaimed.

"Be warned, cities are a lot different than any silent town." Aldor voiced with caution.

"I know that, but it's still going to be fun!" I couldn't contain my excitement.

"Don't forget to register before we go," he took a sip of his orange juice.

"Woah, wait, what do you mean by "we"," he never said anything by coming with me.

"Well, I'd figured that, since we're friends, I can travel with you." He shrugged.

"Uh, last time I checked, you just helped me out when Eye-shine was sick, there was no "Hey, come with me!" or anything." I grumbled, I really didn't want him to come, I just wanted to travel alone, and I'm okay with traveling alone.

"Ok, so let's say you owe me," Aldor smirked.

"Owe you for what? I don't owe you anything!" I was getting angry.

"I helped you out, I've healed your dragon and led you to the Dragon Center," he intertwined his fingers expectantly. I was about to tell him "no way" but I felt something touch my leg. Eye-shine was pawing at my pants leg, almost begging me to let him come.

"Now you want him to come?!" I was disbelieved. Eye-shine chirped surely before flying towards Aldor and rested on his broad shoulders. "Seriously?" I groaned miserably.

"So, what will it be, Ashley?" Aldor smiled as he stroked Eye-shine's head.

"Fine, you can come, as an IOU for you helping out my dragon," I grumbled.

"Great! I can tell we're going to have lots of fun together." Aldor smiled.

"More like torture," I mumbled under my breath. With that, I got up, trashed the plastic plate in the trash bin and walked out of the cafeteria.

* * *

"Morning, Ashley, how may I help you?" Nurse Lavender smiled kindly.

"I'd like to register for the Dragon League," I told her.

"Of course, just put your dragon-dext into this slot," she gestured with her hand, showing me a small slot on the counter that was about the size of my dragon-dext. I fumbled for it in my pocket before getting it out. I put the device into the slot, a quiet electronic beep sounded and a picture of me and my profile showed up on Nurse Lavender's computer.

"Ashley Aldez of Poffalo Town is now registered to enter in the Dragon League. Good luck, trainer," a male electronic voice responded. I pulled my dragon-dext back out of the slot and stuck it into my pocket.

"And, indeed, may luck shine upon you on your journey." Nurse Lavender told me, continuing to give off her warm smile.

"Thank you," I said to her before walking away. Aldor and Eye-shine were waiting for me at the doors of the Center. "Registration complete, now onto the next step," I told them.

"It's going to be a big one, are you sure you are ready?" Aldor asked me out of concern.

"I will when I start catching more dragons and train them until they're as strong as they can be." I clenched my fist determinedly.

"That's the spirit!" Aldor encouraged me.

"So, which way is it to Clear-Glass City?" I asked him. He chuckled before moving his hand to point at the distant purple mountain that was showing through the clear glass of the Center. "Over the mountain?" I said shockingly, it seemed so far away.

"What? Are you scared? I thought you wanted to be a "Dragon Master"," Aldor acted out the quotation marks with his fingers when he said "Dragon Master".

"Of course I'm not afraid! I'll bulldozed through any challenge that gets thrown at me!" With that, I stomped out of the Center angrily.

"Yep, she's scared," Aldor said to himself but not loud enough that Ashley could hear him. Eye-shine chirped before it took flight after her.

* * *

We were finally out of town, but I couldn't help but give it one last look.

"Well, goodbye civilization, hello wilderness," I said to myself.

"Ah, it won't be that bad, we have plenty of food and resources, we'll be okay." Aldor told me. Eye-shine, who was perched on my shoulder, chirped happily. I guess it was happy to be in the wilderness, I wouldn't blame it really, it was more of a forest dragon.

"Well, let's go, the faster we get moving, the faster I get to my first Gym," I pushed forward with determination.

"Tallyho!" Aldor charged forward, trying to act goofy to liven up the mood.

As we continued the long trek, I started to notice that the path we were following was slowly sloping upwards. Trees were getting thinner and more rocks jutted out. We were definitely nearing the mountain and we've only been walking for an hour and a half. Aldor was in the lead, because he has the map, while I lingered behind, searching for possible dragons that I could catch.

"Better hurry, we're close to the mountain pass, it's better if we stick together." Aldor notified me.

"Alright," I upped my pace to a slow jog until I caught up to Aldor. After a few more minutes of walking, I started to sigh with boredom. Trees. More trees. Rocks. But no dragon in sight. "When are we going to see a dragon?" I asked Aldor impatiently.

"Ugh, maybe if you be a little more patient, the dragons will come to you," he was starting to get annoyed.

"What if you use your dragon to fly up and scare a dragon towards us?" I suggested.

"Well... that's a little more easier said than done, especially with Fin and Tin." Aldor chuckled.

"Why? Can't your dragon fly?" I asked him.

"Well, yes."

"Then why is it a problem?"

"Uh... Wait!" He suddenly stopped me in my tracks with his hand.

"What is _your_ problem? I mean, seriously..." I wasn't able to finish my sentence because he covered my mouth with his hand.

"Look," he whispered before pointing towards a rickety old sign. It had a "WARNING" imprinted on it and it showed picture of a thing popping out what I think is the ground. It had a frill of spikes, round head, and needle sharp teeth. Not to mention, the creepy white eyes. "Not good," Aldor gritted his teeth, he was afraid, but of what?

"What is it?" I asked him, but before he could answer, a whispering sound sounded, giving off a creepy chill down my spine. Suddenly, the earth started to shake, rocks tumbled from the small cliffs of the sloping mountain. Earthquake was my first thought, but I've never heard of an earthquake whispering. Then, the ground fell out from under our feet before we were sent flying. We fell onto the rock littered ground a littles ways from the landslide, groaning with pain. But it wasn't a landslide, a giant hole gaped open and a giant dragon appeared. It had greyish skin, sharp red frill spikes on its head and red spikes on its chin. Its mouth bulged with needle sharp teeth though two of them looked like they could be vampire teeth because they were longer than the others. On either side of its small nasal horn, were two bulging white eyes that looked creepier than the picture. It looked dead, not just that, it looked grotesque, even Eye-shine was scared of it as it cowered behind me. The dragon hissed ferociously, a hiss that sounded like it was between a scream and a roar. Shakily, I fumbled for my dragon-dext and pointed it at the creature.

" _Whispering Death, the tunneling dragon and part of the Boulder Class of dragons. This dragon has six rows of rotating teeth inside its mouth that are able to chew through rocks, tree roots, and soil. It also has a reputation of being the scariest dragon in the world. Making its home in the earth, this dragon hunts its prey from below but because of its poor eyesight, they have to rely on their other four senses. When you hear whispering sounds... run."_ Dexter replied.

"S-scariest dragon in the world?" I stuttered fearfully at the word as I shakily put the dragon-dext back into my pocket.

"They don't mention that they're also the most territorial, RUN!" Aldor hurriedly got up with me racing behind him. Behind us, the Whispering Death chomped into the ground where we used to be standing. Moist dirt and dust splattered everywhere as it dug into the ground thunderously.

"Is it gone?" I asked him as we continued to run.

"Far from it!" He responded, just as he said it, a mound of dirt was snaking its way towards us. The whispering in the air got more intense as we ran for our lives while Eye-shine took flight. As we ran, we noticed that the path was getting very steep, one slip and we could tumble. Well, we would definitely tumble if Aldor hadn't spotted the cliff. That cliff had some height to it, so we won't be able to jump unless we wanted to end up like flattened pancakes.

"What do we do?" I asked him as I watched the mound get closer, knocking down any trees in its path.

"We have no choice, Fin, Tin, I choose you!" Aldor threw a draco-ball into the air and his Zippleback came out, it roared viciously.

"We can help too, Eye-shine, let's go!" I shouted at Eye-shine who dived towards the ground and landed beside Fin and Tin. As the mound got closer, there was a thunderous boom as the Whispering Death rose out of the ground and took flight. Showing us its full snake like body, small wings, and the many spikes that arm it. It was way bigger than it looked too.

"Fin, gas attack, Tin, spark attack!" Aldor commanded. Fin immediately shot a stream of green gas towards the Whispering Death before Tin sparked it. The gas lit up before an ear shocking explosion erupted, dust flew up and covered the scene. But as it cleared, the dragon was gone, only a giant hole remained. "It used dig, it could come up anywhere," Aldor gritted his teeth. My eyes scanned the area, but there was no sign of it or anything that could give away its position. Suddenly...

Out from under Fin and Tin, the Whispering Death rammed the dragon from underground. The Zippleback screeched in pain as it was tossed aside like a ragdoll.

"Such power!" I marveled at its strength. The Whispering Death suddenly roared as it flinged its snake like body, causing the spikes on its tail to be launched towards Fin and Tin.

"Fin, Tin, get up now!" Aldor shouted desperately but his dragon was still stunned.

"Eye-shine, flame thrower!" I reacted and Eye-shine responded by using a giant flamethrower for its size that managed to knock the spikes away. "Good job!" I congratulated it. The Whispering Death hissed violently before retreating back into the ground.

"Thanks," he said relieved.

"No problem," I replied.

"We've got to shut down that dig if we want to get a clear shot," Aldor growled as he prepared for another attack from below.

"I've got an idea, use your attack straight into the hole. It won't be able to dodge from under there." I told him.

"Great idea, Fin, use gas attack straight into the hole, and Tin, spark it!" Aldor commanded firmly. Fin hissed as he sprayed the green gas right into the hole before Tin coming up behind it to spark it. There was an echoing boom from underground and I could feel the vibration through the earth. Fire poofed out of the hole before a scorched looking Whispering Death did. It screeched it pain and anger.

"Now, Eye-shine, flame thrower!" I shouted at it. Eye-shine roared as it took flight and shot a flame thrower right at the dragon's face. The dragon screeched in agony as it shook its head to get the flame out of its eyes.

"It has a lot of power but it's weak in defense, so that attack did a lot of damage," Aldor told me.

"Right," I nodded, "again, Eye-shine!" Eye-shine repeated its move, landing another flamethrower at the Whispering Death's face. It was really angry now.

Suddenly, it let out a blood curtling screech, loud enough that we had to cover our ears. After that, its mouth glowed as it prepared to launch a flamethrower.

"Look out! It's going to use Fire Ring!" Aldor desperately tried to say but it was too late, it unleashed the attack, a bright thin fire with rings surrounding it blasted at the ground. Upon impact, an explosion erupted, sending dirt flying with us along with it. Aldor crouched down in time for him not to feel the shock wave but I was too slow. The attack sent me flying right over the cliff. At first, I couldn't feel anything but air before I reacted by grabbing a withered branch that was sticking out the side of the cliff. I grunted, holding on with only my left hand for dear life. I couldn't help but look down to see the earth very far away.

"Whatever you do, don't let go, Ashley," I told myself. I was starting to feel the burn in my left arm as I fought to keep a grip on the branch.

"Ashley! Are you alright?" Aldor shouted from above.

"Yeah, I'm just hanging around," I said sarcastically before I groaned with effort, my arm couldn't take it and my hand couldn't hold on for that much longer. That was when I heard the branch snap, _the branch won't hold out either._ I gritted my teeth, fear gripped my with cold claws.

"Hold on, I've got a rope!" Aldor called back at me, that was when the Whispering Death showed itself, roaring furiously before preparing to chomp into him.

"BEHIND YOU!" I panicked. That was when green gas was shot at it, followed by a spark and an explosion. The Whispering Death retreated away from Aldor.

"Thanks, Fin and Tin," he got the rope in his hand and started to lower it, "grab on!" He shouted towards me. I grunted as I grabbed the rope with my right hand and let go of the branch with my left. The branch finally gave way and it snapped away from the side of the cliff and tumbled towards the world below. My left hand had a weak grip when I held onto the rope so I had to rely on my right, though it was getting tired fast.

"Pull me up, Aldor!" I shouted at him, _please,_ I begged in my mind. I could hear Aldor grunting with effort as he started to pull the rope. But something else was worrying me, above me, it sounded like a war was going on. Dragon roars and growls rang furiously through the air as the fight continued, then a pain filled screech filled the air, it sounded like Fin's and Tin's screech. That was when I heard the flapping of wings before I looked behind me. The Whispering Death had taken flight and it was circling towards me. "Oh no," dread formed in me, "Aldor!" I screamed.

"Grab my hand!" He reached for me as far as he could. With my left hand, I reached for it as well. _So close, so close, just a little more,_ I thought as I continued to stretch towards him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Whispering Death coming dangerously close. It screeched loudly as it charged towards us. Swiftly, it retracted its tail before swinging it forcefully at us, as a result, spikes zoomed towards us. There was a _twang_ of rope as a spike grazed it, it was about to snap. Aldor and me touched hands but it wasn't enough. The rope snapped and I lost my grip and I started to fall towards the forest-y ground. "ASHLEY!" I heard Aldor's growing distant voice sounding. I felt nothing but air as I continued to fall, fear rose in me as I saw the ground racing towards me. Now, branches brushed past me, scratching my face as I crashed through them. Instinctively, I tried to grab anything that could slow my fall. Branches smacked against my arms as I was tossed like a sack through them. Then there was air around me again before ground raced up towards me and I painfully blacked out.

 _To be continued..._


	7. Searching Eyes

Slowly, I opened my eyes, at first, my vision was blurry then it started to get clearer. Slowly, I struggled to sit up, my bones and muscles shrieked with pain.

"Ow, ah! I ache all over," I groaned as I put a hand on my back to stabilize it. Yeah, I pretty much looked like an old lady right about now. Then I remembered what had happened, I fell, and I guess I saved my life by slowing my fall. But it still frickin' hurts. As the thought came into mind, I checked myself for injuries, feeling my arms and legs. Nope, nothing was broken or deeply wounded, or at least I don't think so. "Good, now where am I?" I asked myself as I looked around. I was in a gloomy looking cave with a gaping open, light dimly shined through. "What am I doing in a cave? I thought I landed in the forest." I wondered.

"Grrrraa wollll" something growled behind me. I slowly looked behind me, expecting to see another Whispering Death. But what caught me off guard was a little plump dragon with a large overbite, tiny wings, and bumps on its thick chin and rest of its body. Its bright yellow eyes had curiosity sparked in them mixed with happiness. And for a, supposedly, mean looking dragon, it was actually kind of cute. It sort of had a sandy color that was mixed cute little speckles of purple covering its whole body. It also had a sort of creamy colored belly. "Who's that dragon?" I sorely got my dragon-dext out and pointed it at the dragon.

 _"Gronckle, the rock dragon, and part of the Boulder Class of dragons. When this dragon eats tons of one kind of rock, its lava blast can change texture and color. Though normally docile, this dragon will fight ferociously if it has too, tackling opponents with its tough body. Shot limit: six"_ Dexter replied.

"Great, just what I need, another rampaging Boulder Class," I groaned miserably. But as I looked at the Gronckle, it didn't look like it wanted to attack me. It just stared at me with happy eyes, its thick forked tongue sticking out like a dog when it's happy or excited, and it had a big smile. "Did you bring me here?" I asked it, it just continued to stare at me happily. "Uh... You haven't happened to see a spiky brown haired boy around have you?" I asked it. No reply, just the same stupid impression. "You have no idea what I'm saying, do you?" I asked it blankly. In response, the dragon just scratched the back of its ears with its hind claw absent mindedly. "Ugh, great, what else could go wrong?" I sarcastically griped. I slowly, and stiffly, got up, trying to stay steady on my weak legs only to collapse to the ground, it didn't help that my backpack felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. "Come on Ashley, you can do it," I encouraged myself quietly. Steadying myself, I put all of my weight on one foot and pushed my hands against the ground to give me a boost. Then I was standing, but then I started to wobble and I felt myself falling. The Gronckle grumbled as it moved itself to where I leaned against its side. I looked at the dragon, and it looked at me. "Thanks, Gronckle," I smiled. The Gronckle let out a happy growl before it lowered itself, as if waiting for me to climb on it. "I don't know," I scratched my head. It was still a wild dragon.

"Grooowl grrrrr growl," it responded, nodding its big head.

"Um, OK," I said with uncertainty as I hoisted myself up onto it bumpy back. Being careful of the folded wings as I rode sidesaddle.

"Grrr rooow," it responded, which I'm guessing was something like "hold on tight". I gripped its rough skin as best as I could before it started to move, walking out of the cave and into the forest. The ride was a little bit rocky, but otherwise, it was smooth going. I could tell that the Gronckle was very gentle and it made sure that I was securely on its back. I couldn't tell what time it was, but I could tell it was getting late, mostly by the sudden cool temperature in the air and the way the shadows grew longer and longer.

"I wonder if Aldor is looking for me," I asked myself as I continued to look around for him. "Where could he be?"

* * *

"ASHLEY!" Aldor shouted as he watched her fall into the forest. Another Fire Ring was shot past him hotly. He ducked in time for it to miss him but the shock wave nearly shoved him off of the cliff. "Fin, Tin, help me out!" He shouted as the Whispering Death hovered in the air, hissing violently. A stream of gas shot at the Whispering Death followed by a spark and an explosion, temporarily scaring away the Whispering Death to the underground. "Not good, that's their fourth shot." Then he got a look at Fin and Tin, they were panting and looking extremely tired and beaten, _they're running out of steam fast._ Eye-shine, who was still here, wasn't looking good either. "If we can't fight it, we'll have to run, we've got no choice!" He looked at the drooping heads of his Zippleback, _I can't put them through any more pain,_ he thought. He walked up to them and touched their heads gently. "I know you two don't like it, but we have no choice." They both looked at him with fearful eyes. "It's our only hope, I know you can do it. I believe in you," He reached his heart out to them. He really did believe in them, but now, they need to believe in themselves. The two heads looked at each other before giving him a single determined nod. "Alright, let's go." He moved to the side of them and climbed onto its back. "Eye-shine, stay close! Don't worry, we'll find Ashley," Eye-shine, who was flying right beside him, growled with worry before it turned to deterimantion. There was a boom behind them as the Whispering Death shot out of the ground and roared. "Gas and spark attack!" Aldor reacted, Fin and Tin turned their heads to get a good shot before firing their combination at the dragon, who, unfortunately, dodged. _Fifth shot_. "Let's get out of here!" He shouted at the dragon urgently. Fin and Tin growled as they started to charge forward, running on their small legs towards the cliff. "Get ready..." the Whispering Death was catching up, "...now!" The Zippleback roared loudly as it spread its large wings and jumped off of the cliff. They roughly glided downwards, heading towards the forest, but the Whispering Death was persistent. It took to the air after them, its long worm-like body twirled as it flapped its small wings to catch up to them.

A shrill roar pierced the sky as it caught up. "Can't this guy just give it a rest?!" Aldor was in a panic, _what can I do?_ His Zippleback was already in bad shape and it can't fight while in the air. Eye-shine was on its third shot and it wasn't exactly powerful. They were running out of options and fast. The Whispering Death screeched as it made a dive, at its speed, it could run into them and knock them out of the sky. "Fin, Tin, go up!" Aldor told the dragon. The two heads growled an affirmative before flapping their wings in a powerful down beat. This sent them upwards, making the Whispering Death miss its target completely. But it was coming back as it made a sharp upwards turn and angled its body to where it could ram them from underneath. Eye-shine saw the danger and immediately dived towards it, folding in its small wings and zoomed towards the large dragon in a head on head crash course. "No, Eye-shine! It's too dangerous! Eye-shine!" Aldor desperately called after it but Eye-shine ignored him, after all, it wasn't his dragon to command. Just before the two dragons made impact, Eye-shine let out a large flamethrower right in the face of the Whispering Death. Afterwards, Eye-shine flew right past it, although it was very close to crashing into it.

The Whispering Death roared in pain and anger as the flames danced on its face, it desperately tried to shake it off, having to stop in mid-flight and hover shakily.

"Now's our chance, Fin, use gas attack right below you, Tin, spark attack in the same place!" Aldor commanded. Fin aimed downward before it exhaled its green gas that surrounded the poor Whispering Death. Tin, afterwards, shot its spark attack and an explosion pulsed through the air. A screech from the Whispering Death echoed after it, though it was impossible to see it through the smoke. Just then, a shadowy movement inside the smoke cloud before the Whispering Death rushed out of it, heading straight towards them. Aldor braced himself for an impact but the dragon turned itself around before crashing into them. The dragon screeched a retreat, heading back towards the mountain where it came from. Aldor nearly fainted with relief, _finally, it's gone,_ he thought, finally relieved that it retreated. Eye-shine came up next to him, growling proudly before snapping at him, missing him purposely. "Right, let's find Ashley," he put a hand on his tired Zippleback. "Alright, Fin and Tin, angle downwards, I'll guide you," he said calmly.

After some slow moving descent, they finally reached the ground.

"Alright Fin and Tin, get some rest, you deserve it" he called his dragon back into its draco-ball and attached it onto his belt. "Now, to find Ashley, we've landed in the general direction she fell, so all we have to do is look for clues." But Eye-shine already had its nose to the ground, sniffing for any trace of its trainer. Aldor scanned the ground for any clues that there was any chance Ashley could have survived the fall. Above him, he saw several broke branches and tree limbs out of place, as if something fell through them. On the ground, fresh green leaves were clearly out of place on the ground. Aldor bent down and observed the ground, Ashley was definitely here. But where us she now? "Eye-shine, come over here and sniff this spot. Maybe it can lead us to Ashley." Aldor told the dragon who happily obliged. Nose on the ground, it sniffed the spot, like a detective searching for clues.

"Grrrack," Eye-shine pawed the ground with its tiny claws.

"Find something?" Aldor looked at what Eye-shine found- a dragon footprint. A very deep footprint, meaning that the dragon was very heavy. Not to mention, the print was very pudgy with a thick half-moon arch and four thick fingers. "A Gronckle was here," Aldor observed, "but where's Ashley?" He looked at the footprints, they led and left to about the spot where Ashley fell. "Oh, no," Aldor's face turn white. "We've got to catch up to her."

* * *

"Are we there yet? Wherever we're going?" I asked the Gronckle who just growled subtly. I was getting impatient, not to mention, I wanted to get off of the Gronckle because now more places have gone sore and numb since I've been riding it. Its hide really needed a pillow or something. "We've been walking for an hour, and yet, I have no idea where we're going." The Gronckle let out an almost assuring growl, I think it was letting me know it wasn't going to be long. I looked around us, there was burnt trees along with splintered ones. Something had attacked something, a fight had happened here, not a very good one either. "What happened here?" I asked the Gronckle, it growled unsuringly. In a tree nearby, was a blue spike stuck in it. "Hey, is that..." there was a roar above as leaves suddenly fell all around us. The snapping of branches popped through the air and it sounded like something big was crashing down towards us. Broken branches and fallen leaves fell around us as a flash of blue raced past us. Ahead of us, a brilliantly blue colored dragon landed on the ground, its back to us, and wings still propped up in a mid-upward flap position. It stood at a strong stance with its two legs, spiked head bowed, and stiff tail held up for balance. _A Deadly Nadder, I knew it._ I had already scanned it, but I wanted to scan it again just to be sure. I fumbled for my dragon-dext and pointed it at the blue dragon.

" _Deadly Nadder, the spike-tail dragon and part of the Tracker Class of dragons. This dragon is able to launch deadly spikes from its tail that are powerful enough to split boulders. This dragon also has a keen sense of smell that makes up for its blind spot in front of its nose. Shot limit: six,"_ Dexter replied.

The Nadder slowly faced us before giving off a loud roar, clearly looking for a fight.

"I've already been in a fight with a Whispering Death, I don't need one from a Deadly Nadder," I said nervously as I jumped off of the Gronckle. The Gronckle let out a deep growl, baring its teeth at the angry Nadder while raising its small wings defensively. The Deadly Nadder spiked its tail, getting ready to launch some spikes. _Powerful enough to split boulders,_ "I don't think being a Boulder Class helps any," I gritted my teeth as the Nadder wound its tail before launching its spikes at us at a terrifying speed. I curled into a ball and waited for the spikes, clearly, the Gronckle had the same idea, for it got in front of me and curled itself into a ball. I watched as the spikes bounced harmlessly off of the Gronckle. _Aldor said that Nadders' have a strong attack, so the Gronckle must have a stronger defense than the Nadders' attack._ Then I remembered the name of the move the Gronckle used. "Gronckle, you used defense curl to protect me, thank you," I said to it happily. It cheerfully growled back at me as it uncurled itself. The Nadder screeched irritatedly as it took flight and charged in towards the Gronckle. _Will lava blast damage it? It's sort of like a fire type move but at the same time it isn't. Only one way to find out._ "If you use laval blast, it may knock the Nadder away!" I shouted to the Gronckle. It growled before opening its mouth, it started to glow before liquid lava spewed out. The Nadder was too close, and it met the attack head on.

The Nadder screeched in surprise and agony, it hobbled in flight as it fought to shake the sticky lava off.

"Great shot!" I congratulated the Gronckle, who pounded the ground happily with its chubby paws. The Nadder pulled itself together, making a strong landing. It raised its blue wings defiantly before giving off a screeching roar. The roar forced me to cover my ears and made the Gronckle cry out in pain. Afterwards, the Nadder came in for a forceful tackle that knocked the poor Gronckle over. The dragon struggled to get up as the Nadder looped around and came towards us again with claws outstretched. Not even thinking, I ran in between them and stood firm. The Nadder suddenly started to flap its wings madly, slowing to a stop in front of me before landing and looked straight at me with its right eye. "What's your problem?!" I shouted at it angrily, "all we were doing was passing by!" I'm seriously getting sick of dragons attacking me, I just want to get to Clear-Glass City.

The Nadder let out a deep growl, showing its sharp teeth. "Just leave us alone!" I shouted at it. It growled, irises turning to thin slits as it stared at me. It opened its mouth wider before it started to glow brightly inside the throat, it was about to unleash its magnesium blast. Suddenly, like lightning, flame zoomed past me and landed right inside the Nadders' mouth, forcing him to swallow his own shot. He gagged as his mouth and nostrils flared with smoke and it forced a cough.

"Ashley! Oh, thank God you're okay!" Aldor's voice came up from behind me.

"Couldn't you have arrived at least a bit earlier? That was too close!" I shouted at him scornfully.

"Hey, at least I got here, I'm still wondering how you're not a pancake." Aldor walked towards me. Eye-shine jumped into my arms happily before licking my face joyfully. "And besides, that was stupid of you to get in front of a territorial Nadder, speaking of which," Aldor nodded to the recovering Nadder. It was flapping its wings angrily as it stared at us. "Fin, Tin, I need your assistance again!" Aldor threw the draco-ball into the air to let out his Zippleback. The two heads growled at the Nadder, clearly out-sizing it. The Gronckle finally got up and stared down the blue Nadder along with Eye-shine. They were a team now, and the Nadder was clearly out-numbered. Growling deeply, it turned around flew out of here.

"Finally, it's scared off, I hope we never meet it again. I've had enough of rampaging dragons for one day," I grumbled but still feeling very relieved. I look at the Gronckle, "Thanks, Gronckle, you really helped me out here," I rubbed its head, the dragon purred as I rubbed the "sweet spot" in between its ears.

"So, you got a Gronckle," Aldor returned his dragon before he looked at the Gronckle.

"Nah, it's still wild, it just helped me when I was knocked out. And it protected me when the Nadder attack, I actually owe it a lot," I laughed.

"I'd say it got its pay back when you tried to protect it. You don't owe it anything," Aldor smiled.

"Well, that's good, but now, where are we? 'Cause I'm totally lost," I scratched my head.

"Me too, the long trek to follow you sorta got me mixed up," Aldor confessed. The Gronckle growled excitedly, wagging her stubby round tail.

"What is it?" I asked it, it huffed before it started to forcefully, but gently, push through the forest.

"I guess it wants to show us something," Aldor laughed as he thought it amusing to watch me get pushed around. I grumbled as I stared annoyingly at him.

Afterwards, we were still walking, the Gronckle was in the lead, leading to the lighter part of the forest. Warm light filtered through the leaves and the ground started to slowly slope down.

"I guess we're going down the mountain?" Aldor said uncertainly as he scanned the forest.

"The real question is, where will we end up once we get out of the forest?" I looked nervously at the trees, almost expecting the Nadder to attack us again. Or worse, the Whispering Death. "How much further is it, Gronckle?" I asked it. It grumbled, it sounded like "Not much farther". I was still a little suspicious.

"Hey, I see light," Aldor pointed to a line of trees, light shined warmly through them. We walked through the trees to finally get a clear view of where we were. The trees in front of us were less dense, and there was a clearly marked mountain path. Ahead, something glimmered in the distance.

"What is that?" I squinted at the shiny thing. Aldor dug into his backpack and grabbed out a pair of binoculars and gazed through them.

"It's Clear-Glass City! We're almost there!" Aldor nearly lept with joy as he looked up from the binoculars.

"Lemme see," I grabbed the binoculars from his hand and stared at the shiny thing with them. Thanks to the binoculars, I got a closer view, shiny skyscrapers, the glass looked like it was shining from the light. "They look like diamonds," I was still peering at it with the binoculars.

"That's what it's known for. The glass there is so clean that when the light shines on it, it is reflected back. That's why it looks so sparkly." He informed me.

"That's so awesome! My first city and it's going to be a shiny one!" Now I was leaping with joy, I couldn't wait to get there.

"We've got to get there," he yanked his binoculars out of my hand and peered in them. "I'd say it's about 10 miles, if we keep up the pace, we'll be there by the afternoon." He reported before carefully putting the binoculars back into his bag.

"Great! So what are we waiting for?!" I was about to race towards it before Aldor grabbed the collar of my vest and held me there.

"Have you seen what time it is? It will be night soon and I don't fancy scrambling around in the dark looking for you. Already did that today, so just chill and we'll get moving in the morning after breakfast. Ok?" He asked me.

"Ugh, alright," I grumbled, he let go of my collar. Just then, my stomach growled.

"I guess it is better if we stay, cause I'm hungry," I clenched my stomach.

"Ugh..." he groaned.

"What? Aren't you hungry?" I shrugged. Embarrassingly, Aldor's stomach growled.

"Point taken, I guess," he said before he prepared to get supper started.

Behind me, the Gronckle nudged me, almost knocking me over.

"What is it?" I asked it as I placed a hand on its snout.

"Grrrrrrroooowo," the Gronckle responded, smoke puffed out of its nostrils. There was joy in its eyes, though it was looking at me as if it was asking a question. Almost begging.

"Are you saying you want to come with me?" I was surprised, usually dragon have to be caught by fighting them then using the draco-ball. The Gronckle growled happily, clearly it was a "yes". I've rarely heard of dragon who just came with you on its own. But, a dragon is a dragon, and I will catch this one. "Alright, if you say so," I grabbed a draco-ball from the helm of my jeans and clenched it excitedly in my hand. I wound up, "Go, draco-ball!" I threw it, it tapped the Gronckle before a red beam of light shot out. On the ground, the draco-ball wiggled and vibrated until a "ding" sounded from it. It was a successful capture. I grabbed the draco-ball from the ground, clenching it in my hand. "Alright, I caught a Gronckle!" I jumped up, revelling on my victory.

"Great, now you've just got to catch the other dragons. God only knows how many of them there actually are." Aldor said congratulating.

"I know, I know," I told him annoyingly, "and I will get them all. After all, if I want to become a Dragon Master, I'll need to catch lots of them."

Aldor shook his head, _let's see if you can win your first Gym battle, first,_ he thought.

* * *

Sorry for the long wait guys, but here it is, Chapter 7! Please let me know how I can improve my story or if it just needs something more. Thanks!


	8. The White Nadder

"Is breakfast ready yet?" I whined, I was really getting tired of waiting. Whatever Aldor was cooking, it smelled good.

"It will be ready when it's ready! Now stop pestering me and let me get back to work!" He shouted irritatedly at me.

"Geez, I was just asking," I mumbled before I walked away from him. It was morning, the sun was barely showing itself behind the mountain and there was a hint of the Terrible Terror's song in the air. After a good night's sleep in our tents, we were feeling pretty good- well, I still felt sore from yesterday. The dragons had their breakfast and they were grumbling happily before they were called back into their draco-balls, except for Eye-shine of course, whilst my stomach was grumbling madly. Then I silently remembered the sand which mom had made for me. _It's not much, but it will keep me from complaining too much._ i quietly opened my backpack and grabbed the bag with the sand which. "Ugh," I exclaimed in disgust, the sand which was completely molded inside the bag. _I guess mom thought I would eat it that day, ugh!_ I tossed the thing away and wiped my hands disgustingly on my pants.

Then came the words I thought I would never hear, "Breakfast is ready!" Aldor shouted.

"Finally," I grabbed a plastic bowl and rushed over to the steaming pot. Cream colored soup with an assortment of veggies were waiting for me to eat them.

"Ah, ah, ah, what's the magic word?" Aldor stopped me.

"Please?"

"Nope, it's "May I please have some soup, Aldor?"" He did teasing bow.

"Ugh," I groaned, "come on, I'm starving here!" I growled at him.

"And I thought a lady was best known for her manners," he teased with a smile.

I stared back at him like "really?" before I pointed to him. "Eye-shine, flamethrower," I commanded. Eye-shine, who was beside me, growled before launching a fireball at him. Aldor yelped as he ducked in time for the fireball to only singed a couple of his hairs. "Hmph," I turned my head away from him as I poured some soup into my bowl and walked off to sit next to a dark oak tree.

"Right, right, I get the point, you're just too stubborn and hotheaded to even say "please" and "thank you" like a normal person would," he got up and brushed the dirt from his worn out jeans.

"I'll give you a "please" and "thank you" with my fist if you don't shut up!" I threatened him, clenching my fist.

"It was just a joke, geez, for a ten year old, you sure take everything seriously."

"What was that?" Anger boiled in me.

"Nothing," he shook his head. Silently he got a bowl of soup and sat in front of me. I ate my soup hungrily yet quietly as did he- only a little more gentlemanly. When I finished my soup, I sighed with relief, putting a hand on my finally satisfied stomach.

"Okay, now I can thank you for the great meal," I huffed.

"You're thanking me now?" He asked a little confused.

"Well, I had to see how it tasted before I could say anything." I crossed my arms.

"I don't get you, I just really don't," he looked at me confusingly.

"Hmph," I huffed.

"Ugh, there's plenty of soup left in the pot, feel free to have seconds," he rolled his eyes.

"Don't mind if I do," I got up from my comfy spot and walked over to the pot. I was full but I wanted go make sure it stayed that way. As I reached for the scooper spoon to get some more soup, and warm wind blew in my face. The smell of smoke tinted the air, _a fire?_

"Hey, Aldor, do you smell that?" I addressed him.

"Yeah, it's called the smell of good soup," he said sarcastically.

"That's not what I meant, lame brain, I meant _that_ smell," I told him annoyingly. This caught his attention, he sniffed the air.

"Well, maybe it's from the fire under the pot," he suggested. But the timbers of the fire were almost cold, there was no smoke coming from it.

"No, it smelled like it was coming from farther away." I sniffed the air again.

"Where there's smoke, there's fire, I guess we should see where it's coming from." Aldor got up and headed towards the direction of where the wind was blowing, keeping his nose to the air. I followed him with Eye-shine nervously perched on my shoulder.

As we got closer, we noticed significant burn marks here and there until we came to a burnt clearing. Smoke was still rising here and there in the dying fires of the ashen clearing. Branches of nearby trees were charred black and threatened to tumble down.

"What happened here?" I asked Aldor. He was surveying a tree nearby.

"I don't know, it looks like another dragon fight happened here. It's so strange, even when territorial, dragons are normally very peaceful. What could have made them go on such a rampage?" He asked himself.

"So, are you saying that the Whispering Death only attacked us by accident? Same with that Nadder?" I asked him.

"The Whispering Death was just doing its thing, protecting its territory, but, the attack with the blue Nadder is another story. When we faced the dragon, I noticed something strange, I can't describe it." I could tell he was very confused about all of this.

"Strange? Like what?" I asked him.

"Well, it happened so fast, but, it felt like he was in pain. Not because of those attacks we threw at it, but something deeper. Something is wrong, something's happened to the dragons, but I don't know why."

I was about to say something when a screech pierced the air above us. In a flash, something crashed into the ashen earth, ash and dirt sprayed everywhere, making me cough. Through the dust cloud, a shadow slowly, unstably, got up. It groaned, using its wings for balance. As the dust cleared, we finally got a good look at the dragon, it was another Deadly Nadder. The Nadder had long frill spikes, only, the middle one was broken off, I guess from battle. His wings looked ridged, there were even slight tears, telling me that it's been in more than enough battles. That wasn't the only thing strange, it was pure white.

"Well, that's a Nadder of a different color," Aldor commented.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Nadders are known for their exotic looking colors. Like blues, greens, or even tan colors. But never a solid white color." Aldor was mystified by its looks that he didn't noticed the long scratch across its bare chest.

"Aldor, I thinks it's hurt," I informed him. The Nadder groaned as it fell to one knee, it was definitely in pain.

"We need to help it." Aldor nodded understandingly. Slowly, he started to make his way towards the dragon, extending his arm. The Nadder looked at him with his right eye, showing pure hatred. "Hey, boy, let's help you out, huh?" Aldor was getting closer, until a sudden screech pierced the air again. Out of nowhere, a blue Nadder appeared and hovered over us. It roared angrily.

"Is that the same blue Nadder?" I asked Aldor unbelievingly.

"Not sure, but we're about to be caught in a fight!" The white Nadder raised its head and screech back at the blue Nadder. Raising itself up, it lifted its wings and took flight, spraying ash everywhere as it ascended.

In the air, the two dragons faced off, though the white one was having a little trouble staying aloft. Then, there it came, a clash of blue and white as they tackled each other head on. Both of them gave their best shot to scratch and bite the other. Tails spiked, they used them as deadly clubs to attack the other. Both of them screeched, sending chills into my spine. The white Nadder wasn't looking so good, it was slowing steadily down. Finally, as a finish, the blue Nadder blasted its magnesium blast at the white one's bare chest, knocking the poor dragon to the ground forcefully and painfully. The white Nadder weakly groaned as the blue one landed on top of him, claw to the throat.

"We've gotta help him out!" Angrily, I grabbed a draco-ball and threw it into the air. "Sandstorm, go!" With a pop, the draco-ball opened to let my Gronckle out. Oh, yeah, something I forgot to mention before- I named my Gronckle Sandstorm. Which was a good name I thought, it matched its sandy coloring.

"We can help too, Fin, Tin, go!" Aldor let his Zippleback out.

"Alright, Sandstorm, use tackle to knock the Nadder off of the white one!" I commanded. Sandstorm growled as it charged towards them, landing a successful tackle onto the blue Nadder and knocking it abruptly away.

"Fin and Tin, protect the wounded Nadder!" Aldor commanded next, immediately, the Zippleback jumped in front the downed Nadder and shielded him by extending their wings. They angrily hissed at the blue Nadder who was recuperating. The blue Nadder hissed back, flapping its wings angrily. It snapped at the air, spikes pricked and ready for launch.

"Sandstorm, lava blast, Eye-shine, flamethrower! Scare it off" I commanded, the two dragons moved in unison as they prepared to launch their attacks. Sandstorm blasted its hot lava blast at the Nadder who took to the air to dodge it. It was Eye-shine's turn now, it unleashed its flamethrower, successfully hitting it. The Nadder started to fly crookedly, feeling dazed after the attack. It didn't cause damage, but it got it confused.

"Now's our chance, use gas and spark attack!" Aldor commanded afterward. The attack landed a successful hit, knocking the Nadder out of the sky and crashed into the ground. Grumbling, the Nadder stumbled as it got up, shaking its head painfully. It squawked, swaying on its feet unsteadily. Growling, it raised its wings again and took to the air, retreating once again.

"What is that Nadders' problem?" I asked myself hotly.

"Ashley, come help me out. The Nadder isn't looking very good," Aldor said urgently. He had his hand on the white Nadders' head, trying to steady it as it fought to get up.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked him.

"My backpack is at camp, please get it for me," he requested as he tried to calm the Nadder down.

"Right!" Urgently, I rushed to the camp grabbing his backpack and mine while I was at it.

"Here," I handed him his backpack. Quickly, he searched through it.

"Hm, this is bad. I don't have the necessary medicines to heal it. I can at least help it along but we need real medicine." Aldor was about to panic. A dragon was in pain, yet, he can't do anything.

"Is there a Dragon Center in Clear-Glass City?" I asked him.

"Of course, but that's still ten miles away!"

"What if we fly? We can get there faster." I suggested.

"How can we carry the Nadder? Wait..." He thought for a moment. "I really don't want to do this, but we have no choice. We'll have to catch it." He knew as well as I that it was unfair to the Nadder, but it's that or death.

"Alright," I nodded determinedly before I grabbed a draco-ball from the helm of my jeans and enlarged it. "I'm sorry, go draco-ball!" I threw the ball at the Nadder who was absorbed right into it after contact. The draco-ball wiggled a bit, but it dinged afterwards. I had caught the Nadder, but it still didn't feel right.

"How are we going to fly? I don't think that Sandstorm can carry us both," I asked him.

"Fin, Tin, I need your help." He stood before his Zippleback. "I need you to fly again," he requested. The two heads recoiled in fear at his words. "Please, a Nadder is hurt and we need to get to the Center. The only way is to fly." He begged.

"What's the deal? Is your dragon actually afraid of flying? But it's a _dragon_!" A dragon born with wings should be able to fly.

"You don't understand, it happened a long time ago in an accident when it was just a hatchling." He explained before he slowly walked up to his dragon and stroked their heads. "Please, this is an emergency, I need your help. The Nadder needs your help," he finished. The Zippleback grumbled unsurely, looking at each other. But they gave in when they lowered their wings and body to make it easier for us to climb on. "Thank you, Fin and Tin," Aldor grabbed his backpack and hopped onto the back of the Zippleback.

"What about the stuff at camp?" I asked Aldor.

"We'll worry about that later, hop on." Quickly I shouldered my backpack on before climbing aboard onto the Zippleback. "Let's go, Fin and Tin!" Aldor encouraged his Zippleback. The Zippleback roared determinedly before spreading its wings and started to flap them madly, slowly lifting itself into the air. Soon, we were above the tree line, and we could see the city in the distance. "Alright, move forward," Aldor commanded softly, putting a firm hand onto the middle of their back. They suddenly lurched forward, forcing me to grab onto whatever I can to stay on. Then I got a look at their heads.

"Are their eyes closed!" I nearly panicked.

"Don't worry, I'm their eyes, I'll guide it safely to the city." Aldor told me reassuringly.

"I'm still not convinced," I yelped as I grabbed tightly onto one of their back spikes. Eye-shine was flying right beside us, trying to keep in pace with the Zippleback. "Eye-shine," I extended my arm, "land!" Eye-shine chirped as it did a roll before landing on my arm. Quickly, I hugged my dragon to my chest securely.

We were so close, so close to Clear-Glass City, I can finally make out the buildings.

"We're so close!" I was getting excited, I get to feel ground once again.

"Stop in the name of the law!" A male voice shouted at us.

"Woah, stop," Aldor halted his dragon as a someone on a saddled dragon was flying towards us. The dragon had a slender and scale ridged neck that looked like it was made of a shiny metal. The dragon had bright green eyes, a large overbite with weirdly shaped teeth rowing it, and large back spikes that stood out, well, like a thorn. Its tail was longer than its body, rowed with thin and deadly spikes at the end of it. It reminded me of a Nadder with the spikes, but really didn't fit the picture. The wings were slender, like they could break at any moment, but they also had a shine to them when they moved. And I could tell the dragon was a quadruped by the way it looked.

"Who's that dragon?" I got out my dragon-dext and pointed at the dragon.

"Razorwhip, the shear sharp dragon, and part of the Sharp Class of dragons. This dragon, like the Deadly Nadder, can launch barbs from its prehensile and sharp tail. Its tail is sharp enough to almost cut anything in half. But unlike any other dragon you might know, this dragon is very aggressive and deadly, even its tears are poisonous. Shot limit: 6." Dexter informed.

"And Silverblade can and _will_ cut you in half if you resist," the guy on the Razorwhip growled. He had a blue police hat on his neatly cut black hair. He wore a blue uniform with a star on the left front of his chest. "You are in a "no fly" zone! Land immediately!" The officer shouted.

"But, sir, we have a sick and injured dragon in our midst, we need to get to the Dragon Center immediately!" Aldor told him.

"Sure, excuses," the officer grumbled.

"Please! The white Nadder needs help, badly, it will die if we don't get it to the Dragon Center!" I shouted at him desperately.

"White Nadder? Did it have a chipped horn in the middle of its frill of spikes?" He asked us, almost knowing.

"Yes, but it got into a fight with a blue Nadder and its hurt badly." I told him.

"All that old one wants is some peace, and yet, you caught it!" The officer was outrageous.

"It was easier to carry it that way, I promise, I'll set it free afterward." I promised. The officer grumbled angrily.

"Fine, I'll lead you to the Center, but your story better be true, or its jail time." He growled. His Razorwhip, Silverblade, slowly turned towards the city and swiftly flew towards it. There was a soft metallic _click_ every time the dragon flapped its wings.

"Alright, Fin and Tin, moved forward," Aldor directed.

Finally, we were in the city, as promised, Mr. Grumpy-pants led us to the Center. A light pink building with a window roof and stone walls.

"Inside!" The officer growled again as he stepped down from the saddled dragon. Quickly, we got off of Fin and Tin, and after Aldor called it back into its draco-ball, we raced into the Dragon Center. The inside of it was pretty much the same as the first, only it was a light pink.

"Nurse Rose, we have an emergency," the officer shouted as we bursted into the Center.

"What's wrong, Officer James?" She asked with a worry expression on her face. She basically looked like the Nurse from Rubble Town, only with red hair and a pink outfit and white nurse hat. She looked about the same age as Nurse Lavender, which was shocking and sort of disturbing.

"A Nadder was injured in a fight, they say it's the white one." Officer James reported.

"Oh, no, well, it wouldn't be the first time," Nurse Rose said sadly. "I'll see what I can do to help it."

"Here," I said as I gave her the draco-ball.

"You caught it?" She questioned me.

"Well, yeah, only way to get to the Dragon Center quicker." I told her.

"I guess Ghostwing is losing his touch." She sighed sadly before she walked into another room with the draco-ball in hand.

"Ghostwing?" I questioned confusedly.

"That's what people in this city call him, mostly because of his elusiveness. But they also respect him because he watches over the city. Some say that the White Nadder protects people and dragons from hidden dangers. He sees all and protects all, but never makes contact with people." Officer James explained.

"I never heard of such a story," Aldor replied. "He's a very interesting dragon, indeed."

"Follow me to the room, we can watch her take care of it," Officer James led us in another direction. As we got there, Nurse Rose had let the Nadder out of my draco-ball as it was laying on a large examination table.

"Poor thing," I said sadly.

"It's hard to see Ghostwing like this. To think, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him." The Officer sighed sadly.

"It's so strange, he was being mercilessly attacked by a blue Nadder. Is that normal, Officer?" Aldor asked him.

"As I've been patrolling the city limits, I've been noticing something wrong with the dragons. They have been fighting with each other, but it all starts with the blue Nadder. But it's not the only one lately." He scratched his head, trying to make sense of it all.

"I knew it, something has been happening. When Ashley was attacked by a blue Nadder, I could feel it in pain." Aldor told him.

"So far, it's only been affecting Tracker Class dragons. Why? I don't know. Maybe because they're more in tune to their senses? But one thing is for sure, something suspicious is going on here." He looked at his black leather shoes in thought.

"How's the dragon, Nurse Rose," Officer James asked her.

"He has wounds, that I can heal, but I think his pride has been damaged. For years, no one has ever caught him, until now," she looked at me. I looked down to avoid eye contact, while Eye-shine chirped sadly on my shoulder. "We should leave him in peace, his wounds are good enough that he'll heal from it." Nurse Rose suddenly walked away, trying to put a happy step in her walking but failed.

"Good luck, Ghostwing," Officer James tipped his hat towards the dragon before walking off.

"Can I see him?" I asked him quickly before he got too far.

"Suit yourself, you caught him, the least you can do is worry for him," he Officer grumbled before disappearing behind a corner.

"What are you planning?" Aldor asked me uneasily.

"I really think he needs someone by his side. He may need help." I simply told him as I walked into the operating room.

On the operating table, the white dragon laid, looking very out of place. His chest was wrapped in bandages, hiding the scratch from view. His chest slowly moved up and down in subtle motions as he breathed.

"Ghostwing?" I called to him, he didn't respond. "That's what people call you, right?" I forced a laugh, to give some humor to it but failed. I looked down, ashamed, the Nadder never wanted to get caught, and we didn't give it a choice. "Ghostwing, I'm sorry, it was wrong to catch you but we had too. You could have died if we couldn't get you to the Dragon Center." I put a hand on his cold and rough scales.

Without me noticing, he looked at me with his piercing yellow eye. Slitted but not angry or depressed. He just looked.

"You miss home, right?" I asked it. "Well, I miss home already, as my father says, "home is where the heart is", well, he used to say it." I rubbed my hand on its scales, being very gentle with it. "I..." There was a sudden crash in the Dragon Center, the sound of glass falling to the ground and shattering. Quickly, I ran out of the room in a rush that I forgot to close the door.

Aldor was in the lobby, trying to get a clear view through the dust. "What happened?" I asked him.

"I don't know, there was a shadow and then this happened. I didn't get a good look at it." He squinted his eyes but the dust shortened his vision. Through the dense dust, a dark growl sounded. Dust finally started to settle, showing a blue Nadder in a very angry mood.

"Oh, no," Aldor breathed.

"Hasn't that Nadder had enough?!" I shouted.

The Nadder roared shrilly, making everyone cover their ears. A flash of fire bursted out of the Nadders' mouth as it aimed for the ceiling.

"Everyone, get out of here now!" Nurse Rose shouted through the commotion. Everybody started to make their way to the doors or through the windows as smoke started to rise. Aldor raced for the door first with me catching up. Spikes suddenly flew in front of me, I fell backwards in surprise, smoke billowed in my face, making me cough.

"Ashley!" I heard Aldor shouted. Through the smoke, the blue Nadder showed itself, growling with slitted eyes. I screamed, the Nadder was going to attack me. The Nadder roared as it lunged for me. _Why me?_

* * *

Guys, let me know, who is your favorite character/dragon so far?


	9. Nadder vs Nadder- The Final Battle

Last thing I remembered was a flash of white and the screech of surprise from the blue Nadder. The smoke was getting unbearable, it made me cough and it stung my eyes. I heard the cracking of falling supports and the popping of fire. Nurse Rose was able to get the injured dragons out of here, but I was stuck. And I guess I was hallucinating too cause Ghostwing was making its way towards me. But then I heard it growl, loud and clear, unthinkingly, I got onto its back, I was in a daze and my mind was whirling like a tornado. I could feel Ghostwing take off, flying towards the broken and blacken ceiling. I could finally taste air again, finally able to breathe.

"Thank you, Ghostwing," I breathed, sucking in the air like I would never breathe again. He growled subtly, looking back at me. Below us, there were tons of people hurdling a good distance away from the burning building. Firefighters were busy spraying water onto the building, noises rang loudly in my ears.

Suddenly, Ghostwing's wings abruptly folded in on themselves, and we started to plummet down. "Ghostwing!" I shouted at it, the rushing air making my eyes water. Ghostwing struggled to pulled up, but it was not enough, we crashed into the hard pavement, sending me flying off of its back. I groaned, sitting up before shaking my aching head to clear it before I looked at the Nadder. It was breathing heavily, I guess it was still feeling those wounds.

"Ashley, are you okay?" Aldor rushed to my side and helped me up.

"Yeah, thanks, just a bump on the head but it'll heal," I tried to sound assuring. Eye-shine hovered in front of me, growling with concern.

Back at the Center, an explosion banged through the sky as the top of the roof bursted into flames. Out of the fire, came out a black sooted Nadder- the blue Nadder. It roared viciously as it flew into the air.

"It's back!" Aldor shouted, almost panicking. Ghostwing saw it, and raised itself up shakily.

"Ghostwing! You can't battle, you're still too weak!" I told it. It growled as it raised its wings and prepared to take off. "Oh, no you don't!" I wrapped my arms around his neck before he took off.

"Ashley! What are you doing?!" Aldor shouted back at me as he watched me fly into the air with the Nadder. The liftoff scared me out of my skin as I felt nothing but air around me, my legs dangled beneath me. Ghostwing roared, trying to make me get off by shaking me off. "If you're going to fight, at least don't fight alone!" I shouted at it as I fought to keep a grip on his slippery scales. He looked at me with surprise. "I've got your back," I promised as I tightened my grip but it was too much, I started to feel myself slip. Ghostwing growled when he noticed, he suddenly jerked me upwards, I screamed as air whooshed around me and I could feel myself falling. I then landed on something hard, I dared to open my eyes to see Ghostwing had caught me. "Thanks, Ghostwing," I rubbed the back of its neck gratefully. "Alright, we need to take care of this Nadder once and for all!" I shouted at him, Ghostwing roared with courage and determination as he charged forward. The Nadder was attacking everything in sight, using its magnesium blast to scorch the sides of the buildings. "We need to get its attention," I gritted my teeth, "we need to get it away from the people." Ghostwing growled, his eyes slitted, looking angrily at the Nadder. "If you use magnesium blast, it could get its attention, but then we need to get it out of the city," I told it. Ghostwing growled in agreement before opening his mouth to unleash a scorching blast of fire. It grazed the Nadder, not hurting it, but it did get its attention.

"Hey! Come and get us!" I shouted at it tauntingly as Ghostwing veered right then moved upwards. The Nadder roared before it followed us, flapping its wings madly. Ghostwing was leading it high into the sky, doing its best to swerve past the tall skyscrapers, right now, they were the most difficult obstacle since there was so many. There was a _twang_ as the Nadder unleashed its spikes. "To the right, dodge it!" I shouted at it desperately. Too late, spikes grazed past us, in shock, I lost my grip and I started to tumble down. Fear gripped me as I flailed around for anything to hold me up but I was falling towards the Center faster than a bullet. I couldn't breathe, I was in too much of a panic. Down below, people were looking at me, shrieking for someone to help me before I became a real pancake.

Unthinkingly, I flattened myself out, holding my hands and arms out like I was gliding. I guess it was just instinct. The ground got closer now, I could make out people now, even Aldor and little Eye-shine. Tears formed in my eyes from the wind, and my heart soared with fear and my arms and legs tingled. A faint screech sounded before a flash of white zoomed under me and caught me, I grunted as I landed onto his hard back. Holding on, I knew it wasn't over yet, we were heading straight for the burning building.

"Pull up!" I shouted, Ghostwing did, but not enough, he screech as soot and smoke got into its face and eyes. He screeched, shaking his head to get the stuff off of him, mostly importantly, out of his eyes. "Calm down!" I told it, putting a firm hand on his neck. He calmed down some. A screech above us told us where the other Nadder was, and it wasn't that far off from catching us. "What can I do? Ghostwing can't fly blind," I murmured to myself, Ghostwing was hovering unsteadily, but it couldn't open it eyes without the soot making them hurt more. Then, I remembered Aldor, _Don't worry, I'm their eyes, I'll guide them safely to the city. That's it!_

"Ghostwing, I'll be your eyes," I told it, it growled unsuringly. "Please, you've got to trust me. We are together, you and me, I've got your back, and you've got mine. If we work together, we can defeat the Nadder. Please, lend me your power, and I'll lend you my sight." I begged, rubbing its head softly. Finally, it gave an affirmative nod. _Ghostwing trusts me, I can't let him down._ A sudden flapping of wings sounded before the blue Nadder dived towards us at lightning speed. "Go left!" I commanded, the dragon took the order and flew left, making the blue Nadder miss us. "Now, fly up!" Ghostwing immediately started to slope up, flapping its wings as hard as it can. _It's going to run out of steam soon, we better finish this and fast!_ "Move right! Skyscraper ahead!" I shouted as I saw the building rushing towards us. Ghostwing turned but there was another, "Left!" I reacted. Ghostwing veered left, almost grazing the building, but as we got higher, there was less obstacles for us. Well, except one.

The blue Nadder was hot on our tails, coming on us fast.

"Alright, we need to knock it out, but how?" I asked myself. I looked back at the Nadder, it was still flying towards us, anger in its eyes. His head is just as dangerous as his tail, but, maybe that can be a weakness too. "I have a plan, but it's super risky, are you up for it?" I asked Ghostwing, he was still flying up but he heard my words. He nodded, he was ready for anything. "Alright, dive, we need to get as close as we can to the Nadder!" I held on as Ghostwing did a slow backward flip before descending down at high speeds. I blinked the tears out of my eyes, I had to keep a close eye on the Nadder. The blue Nadder unleashed its magnesium blast, and I was prepared for it. "Slide to the right!" I commanded. Ghostwing angled his wings so that he moved right, dodging the scorching blast of fire. "Alright, when I say so, use magnesium blast." I told Ghostwing. I could tell he was getting ready, he was fearless, he faced opponents without flinching and was ready to fight till the end. He is the White Nadder.

We got closer to the dragon, closer, closer. "Now! Magnesium blast!" I shouted. Angry sparking fire suddenly bursted out of Ghostwing's mouth, blasting its way towards the Nadder who had no time to dodge. It got a face full of flames, shocked by it, the Nadder started to tumble down. "We've got to catch it!" I told Ghostwing. "Alright, right below you! Hurry!" I shouted. Staggering only for a second, Ghostwing was back on course. Reaching his claws out for the grab. "Not yet," I waited for when we were in reaching distance, "now!" Ghostwing suddenly lashed out his claws, latching them onto the Nadder. The weight was too much, Ghostwing desperately flapped his wings deeply, trying to keep them all aloft. We were being dragged down too fast. "Come on, Ghostwing, you can do it!" I encouragingly shouted at him as he strained to flap his wings. He was too weak now. There was a metallic clicking sound in the air before I realised. Just as I had realised it, a shadow loomed over us and helping claws gripped Ghostwing's sides but left enough room for him to continue flapping.

"I got you both, just hold on!" Officer James shouted from above us as Silverblade held us up. It flapping its silver wings slowly but strongly.

"Thank you!" I shouted back at him, sighing with relief.

Back on the ground, I sort of felt awkward, after being in the air for so long- and almost falling- it felt weird to be on the ground. Ghostwing was able to open his eyes after most of the soot had been cleaned off by Nurse Rose. The blue Nadder was getting looked over as well. Excitedly, Eye-shine jumped into my arms and purred as it rubbed its face against mine.

"What on Earth were you thinking?!" Aldor shouted at me afterward. "Do you have any idea that you could have been killed?!" He scowled at me angrily.

"What was I supposed to do? Leave Ghostwing up there to fight it on its own?" I growled angrily.

"Ugh, next time you decide to do a crazy stunt like that, let me know first so I can tie you down." Aldor crossed his arms and looked at me.

"You would have done the same," I told him back, staring at him angrily.

Finally he sighed, "I'm just glad you're still in one piece," he smiled.

Ghostwing growled behind me, I turned around to see him walking towards me. "Thank you, Ghostwing, for all of your help," I rubbed its snout. It grumbled before bowing its head and spreading out its wings in a submissive manner.

"Oh, man, it's pledging its allegiance to you. Ha, you've earned its respect," Aldor smiled.

"Is that true, Ghostwing?" I asked it, looking at it. It looked back, with pleading eyes. "Hm," I smiled, "welcome to the team, Ghostwing." I grabbed the draco-ball that I originally caught Ghostwing with and pointed it at him. "Ghostwing, return" a red light flashed and Ghostwing was absorbed into the draco-ball, with no fight.

"Third dragon, you're on your way to becoming a dragon master, but you still need to defeat the Gym here," Aldor told me.

"I know, tomorrow will be an awesome day, I'll win my badge," then I looked at Ghostwing's draco-ball, "with you," I finished.

* * *

"Officer James, I have something for you," Nurse Rose told him that night.

"What?" the Officer mumbled, Silverblade beside him.

"I uncovered this on the Nadder's body when it was unconscious, it was stuck into its tail like a thorn, but, it's too big to be a thorn. After removal, the Nadder wasn't hostile when it woke. It was actually very friendly." Nurse Rose handed him the thin, sharp barb, it had a neon green color to it and it had an awfully familiar smell and look to it. Silverblade growled, baring its teeth and flaring its nostrils. It was growling hostily at the green barb.

"This can't be, these were destroyed long ago," Officer James observed the barb, staring at it in anger but there was a flash of painful memories too.

"I had a suspicion, but I figured that you would know better than anyone else." Nurse Rose had grown pale.

"I most certainly do, and those people would still keep doing this to dragons. It's most certainly them, I know it, you can never forget anything that was made by their hand. I lost a friend because of them and their cruel ways. Looks like those murderous crooks are back, no one's safe now." He held the Dragon Root barb up to the light.

"There's going to be a fight soon, I just know it." Nurse Rose chittered fearfully. She was shaking like a leaf.

"I know, but we'll be ready." Officer James growled, clenching the bard angrily in his hand, looking vengeful while doing so.


	10. Battle for the Badge: Part 1

The next morning, after a good breakfast, we were walking around in the city, well, walking around lost in the city. Oh great...

"Is it this way?" I asked Aldor, there was so many corners, they were all starting to look the same.

"Uh, no," Aldor squinted at a map he was carrying- which was doing us no good.

"Ugh, I have to get to the Gym, Nurse Rose said it was in the park, now we just have to get there," I searched among the thousands of signs to see any that could possibly lead us to the park. The noises around me were hurting my ears and it was getting hard to concentrate, this was worst than getting lost in a forest. Eye-shine was trembling on my shoulder, this must be new to it as well.

"Maybe if we go this way, it will lead us to the park," Aldor pointed to the right.

"Are you sure?" I asked him uncertainly.

"I think?" His answer didn't assure me at all but it was all we had to go on.

"Oh, this is just great! You led us to a highway!" The cars buzzed past us noisily, that I'm even sure if my words got to him.

"I swear, it's around here!" He shouted back at me. A car suddenly honked as it zoomed by, scaring both of us. But Eye-shine was terrified, it yelped in surprise before jumping off of my shoulder and took flight in the opposite direction of the highway.

"Eye-shine!" I called after it and tried to run after it but the dozens of busy people blocked my way.

* * *

Eye-shine flapped frantically, dodging past signs and people. It screeched as it skidded to a halt in front of a giant human head advertising the latest fancy iPod, the image scared it and it flew away from it as fast as it could. With its heart pounding frantically in its chest, it had to get out of there. It suddenly screeched as it flew right into a sign on a building. Dazed, it slid to the ground, crumpled from the impact. A man then accidentally stepped on its tail, making it screech in pain. Frantically, it ran in place to try to get away from him, only running into a signpost when he lifted his foot. It wobbled into the street, dazed, not sure if down was up or up was down. Cars suddenly honked, startling it back into reality, only to be running frantically from the cars afterward. Car exhaust made it cough and it burned its eyes. Panting fearfully, it took flight, barely dodging the cars as they zoomed past it. Then the wind harshly blew, making it flip head over wing as the wind carried it abruptly upwards. It screeched helplessly, feeling a little bit sick from the ride. Then the wind suddenly stopped and Eye-shine fell towards the ground unexpectedly, landing in a park trash can. Seeing stars, it wobbled out, accidentally falling on its head. Head ringing, it wobbled drunkenly towards a bench, though it was hard to tell what it was from all of the spinning. Painfully, it banged its head on the leg of the wooden bench, making it shake its head to knock some senses back into it.

"Hello?" A female voice called out. Scared, it scurried under the bench, shivering with fear. On the bench was a young girl, about twenty, with honey blonde hair. She had red headphones on and music softly sounded from them. Her light grey eyes had a shyness to them, but at the same time, they looked kind. She wore a sort of light fern green vest that extended to her waist and had a little pouch wrapped around her waist, under it was a lighter blue-green shirt that had short sleeves and a sort of cheerleader skirt that came below her thigh. She had light brown stocking boots that was just below her knees and had no heels to them. She was very stylish, and very pretty.

She bent down to look under her bench, seeing a Terror curled scaredly under it. "Hm, a Stoker Class, not as interesting as Sharp Class, but it's still cute." She just commented. "Are you lost, little guy?" She asked it. She got up from her bench and knelt down, facing the Terrible Terror from the shadow of the bench. Slowly, she reached her hand down, it shriveled back in fright. "Now, now, don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. Come on," she smiled sweetly. Slowly, Eye-shine crept out of its hiding place. When the girl was able to reach it, she picked up the dragon and cradled it in her arms. To the Terror, she smelled like sweet honey.

"Are you lost?" She asked softly. It growled quietly, still a little scared. She chuckled understandingly, "I know what it's like to get spooked by the city, but you'll get used to it." She smiled again as she petted the Terror while with the other hand, she moved her headphones so that they were around her neck. "Are you feeling better now?" She asked it. It chortled back happily.

"Eye-shine!" A familiar voice sounded, though a little out of breath. Eye-shine called back, roaring with happiness as it jumped into my arms. "Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!" I hugged my dragon, "But don't ever do that again!" I warned it, it growled an apology.

"So, I take it that that Terrible Terror is yours?" A girl asked me.

"Yes, thank you," I was relieved. Aldor then came huffing towards me. "Now you show up, slope poke!" I teased.

"Hey, I had to take the long way in order to get through the crowd! Show some sympathy!" He growled back.

"Aldor?" The girl asked.

"Sage?" He looked at the girl with recognition.

"How long had it been? It feels like ages since I last saw you!" The girl walked up to him and hugged him tightly before letting go.

"Yeah, it has been along time, it's good to see you!" Aldor smiled.

"Uh, excuse me if I interrupt your reunion, but who is she?" I asked hotly, crossing while Eye-shine was perched on my shoulder.

"Oh, sorry, Ashley," Aldor chuckled, "this is Sage Azura, she was a friend of mine when she was in my town." Aldor gestured to her.

"Pleasure to meet you," she stuck out her hand, intending me to shake it. I didn't want too, but it wouldn't be polite if I refused, so I shaked it anyway.

"Sage, this is Ashley Aldez, I'm currently traveling with her," Aldor gestured towards me.

"Isn't that right, where are ya'll heading?" She asked sweetly.

"Well, we're searching for the Clear Glass Gym," I answered before Aldor could.

"The Gym? So you dare to challenge it?" She asked with a hint of a laugh.

"Got a problem with that?" I growled at her.

"Well, maybe," she shrugged simply, "since you _are_ talking to the Gym Leader," she giggled. Shocked, I immediately wished I hadn't growled at her. "But since you are a friend of Aldor's, then I'll let this slide just this once. But I have to do something before I do any battling," she winked at me. "If you would, come with me," she beckoned us as she walked towards the center of the park. Grumbling, I followed her with Eye-shine on my shoulder.

"Be nice to her, will ya?" Aldor told me when she wasn't in hearing distance.

"Where did you know her from?" I asked him.

"Well, I've known her in my home town before she started her own journey. She told me about her travels whenever she visited, but I guess she decided to become a Gym Leader." Aldor chuckled. "Believe it or not, she's actually very shy. She only opens up to only a few people. My guess is that's why she became a Gym Leader in the first place. To help her with her shyness. But she's a fierce battler, I promise you that," he winked. Me and Eye-shine looked at eachother with uncertainty before we shrugged it off.

* * *

"Well, here we are!" She led us to a large glass building with a red target sign with three jagged scratch marks swiping decoratively across it. Different targets meant different things, for instance, a target with battle scratches is a Gym symbol. Two palm trees were bent over in front of the entrance, their leaves swaying softly in the wind, they were there to give the building a decorative look. She walked inside, with us following, and led us downstairs. "This is where I take care of my dragons." She said.

"I thought Gym Leaders weren't suppose to reveal their dragons," I told her.

"Well, that depends," she smiled. _She's just full of mysteries, isn't she?_ "This is the stable," she stopped at a wooden door with a push in handle. As she opened the door, warm light shined in, the smell of wood and dragon wafted through the air strongly.

Inside, there was four large box corridors, one was bigger than the other three, with wooden doors blocking their way, much like a stall. Four stalls were on either side of us, most of them had names imprinted on them. _Ax, Iris,_ and _Valentine._ I stared at a stall door with a fancy written " _Ax"_ on it in gold letters.

"Who's "Ax"?" I asked before a sudden head leapt at me, startling me and making me fall backwards. The axe like head gurgled laughingly, smiling a toothy dragon smile.

"Well, that's Ax, always been the one to joke around, haven't you, boy," Sage scratched her dragon's head happily. The dragon's eyes lolled with happiness.

"What kind of dragon is it? I've never heard of a dragon with an axe-like head." The dragon purred as I got up and brushed off my jeans.

"Well, I'm surprised, Ax is sort of not from this region, let me show you what I mean." Sage then opened the stall, letting the dragon slowly walk out, or, crawl out?

"It has six legs!" I almost panicked.

"Heh, yeah, it's a Hackatoo and it's part of the Sharp Class. Its head can actually chop down trees, so you can imagine how sharp it is." Sage smiled.

"Uh, huh, and what about the color?" The dragon had a pink and yellow color. Very bright, and very spotted, like it was a bright colored leopard or something.

"It's species is usually a brown color, but once in awhile, you'll find an Exotic dragon with these kinds of bright colors." She explained.

"It's like your Nadder, very rare and very unusual but Exoctic's are more common to knowledge. There are only certain places you can find them, and if you can catch them, they'll be your best and strongest friend." Aldor told me.

"Where can you find Exotic's?" I asked them.

"Mostly in the Rosana Region, a place where you have to travel by boat." Sage said. "But she's not the only one from the Rosana Region." Sage went to another stall with the name " _Iris_ " on it. Upon opening it, something whooshed into the air, nearly knocking all of us over from the draft.

"What was that?" I braced myself.

"Iris sit!" Sage suddenly commanded and a dragon suddenly appeared, obeying its trainer by sitting in front of her. Remembering my dragon-dext, I grabbed it from my pocket and pointed it at it.

"No data," the male electronic voice said.

"How can that be?" I started to push some buttons to see it was broken.

"Because your dext is only registered for the Livid Region, meaning it can only scan dragons that are native to this region." Sage explained. I then looked at the beautiful purple and blue dragon, it had a long tail with leaf like back-spines. Playful eyes illuminated the dragons face, it was certainly a peculiar dragon. It had an overbite and had stubby spikes on the side of its face. "This is Iris, she's a Scuttleclaw, and Scuttleclaws are known for their boundless energy," she giggled as Iris nudged her. "And also, another Sharp Class dragon."

"Two Sharp Class dragon, that means you're a Sharp Class Gym Leader, right?" I asked her.

"That's right, you're catching on!" She smiled. "The next one is in the biggest stall," she walked to another stall that was, indeed, a little bigger than the others. "Valentine, come on out!" She swung the door open. There was a grumble inside before a head shyly slithered out of the darkness. It had a long nasal horn as well as a horn under its chin. Its snout was long with sharp teeth that rowed its overbite and it had shy yellow eyes. As it got out, I realised how long it was, its neck looked longer than the body minus the tail. Its back spines were long and they looked sharper than knives. It was a bipedal dragon but it looked like it could walk on all four legs. The color was also very interesting, it had a silver grey color with yellow outlined circles neatly rowing the side of its neck all the way down to the side of its tail. Each varying in size until they started to get smaller at the tail. There were tints of blue on the back of its neck and all the way down to its back too.

"Oh, wow, a Windstriker," Aldor marveled at the dragon. The dragon bowed its head shyly as he walk up to it.

"Careful, it's shy, but it will not hesitate to attack." Sage warned and Aldor respectively back off. "Valentine, like me, doesn't like to be around people much. I found her when she was just a hatchling and we became the best of friends. She was also my starter dragon. I started my journey with her, and she's always been at my side." She scratched the dragon's neck then she suddenly laughed humorously. "Oh, boy, the trouble it was training her. But I wouldn't give up on her and she wouldn't give up on me."

 _All three very strong looking dragons. All of them Sharp Class, not going to be easy since I only have three dragon and one of them is a Stoker Class._ I thought.

"Hey, Ashley, did I hear you right when you said you wanted to challenge me?" She suddenly got a strange spark in her, she was pumped up even though the battle hasn't started yet.

"You bet! I'm ready when you are!" I balled my fist, _I'm going to have to give it my all, no matter what._

"Then let's go, let's see what you're made of." She said that almost daringly.

* * *

Finally, I was here, the battlefield. It was a normal dirt battlefield with the same markings as the battlefield at the Dragon Center. Above us, was a glass roof with light shining brightly down from it and there were five rows of stands, where Aldor is going to sit. "Are you sure you are ready? You haven't even trained your dragons to help them become stronger," Aldor warned me. "Do you even have a plan?" He asked me.

"Well, not really," I cracked a nervous smile. He facepalmed himself before shaking his head.

"Good luck, you'll need it," he said with contempt, shaking his head subtly, he walked towards the stands and settled himself down on the third row to get a good view.

"You ready, Ashley?" Sage called from her spot on the battlefield, which was the left. I was in my spot on the right.

"You bet!" I balled my fist at her. "I'm going to win no matter what!" My determination was burning, now I just have to prove it.

"I like your spirit! Charles, call it!" She called to a red headed referee. He had two flags, on his right was a red flag, on the left was a green flag.

"The battle between the Gym Leader Sage and Ashley Aldez of Poffalo Town will now begin! Each trainer will have the use of three dragons, furthermore, only the challenger is allowed to substitute dragons. Choose your dragon!" The referee waved his red and green flags.

"Now, Ax, let's win this!" She threw her draco-ball into the air to let out her Hackatoo. The Hackatoo growled, showing a different side than his previous happy personality from before.

"So, Ax is up, alright. Eye-shine, I choose you!" Eye-shine immediately jumped onto the battlefield. It glared at the Hackatoo, raising its wings to look as big as possible.

"A Stoker Class, are you sure?" Sage was skeptical.

"Of course, just you wait!" I was confident, but I wasn't sure how long it will last.

"Okay," she said still not convinced.

"Both trainers ready?!" The referee raised his flags, he didn't need to be told the answer, our expressions alone told him that we were born ready. "BEGIN!" He brought down the flags, now it was on.

"Alright, Ax, use leer!" Sage suddenly reacted. Ax suddenly raised itself on its two back legs, the other four legs held outward while it glared at Eye-shine, making Eye-shine cower in fear.

"What's leer?" I asked myself.

"Leer is a status move that lower opponent's defense, be careful Ashley," Aldor warned.

 _It won't matter if we don't take a hit. This might get tricky._

"Alright, flamethrower, go!" I commanded. Eye-shine reacted, taking flight before unleashing a massive fireball.

"Dodge it!" Sage reacted, then, just like it was at the speed of light, Ax moved.

"So fast," I growled, speed always gives you the upper hand because you can attack first or evade an attack. "We'll have to boost our speed too, Eye-shine, agility!" I commanded, Eye-shine screeched as it took flight as started to move faster too, heading straight for Ax in a zigzag motion.

"Perfect, grab it with wrap!" Sage commanded. Ax suddenly lashed his tail around and grabbed Eye-shine out of the air and coiled it around Eye-shine like a snake coiling around its prey.

"Eye-shine!" _This isn't good._

"What are you going to do now?" Sage challenge. "No dragon has been able to escape from Ax's wrap." Sage boasted.

 _Gotta think, what can I do? Wait, I remember, it'll work but I'm not sure if it will be successful. I just have to trust in my dragon._

"Eye-shine, use flamethrower and hurry!" I commanded. Eye-shine was start to squeal as it struggled against the tightening wrap, soon, it will be out of the battle. "Come on, Eye-shine, you can do it!" I encouraged it. Fiery determination filled its eyes, it won't give up, not now. Taking the last of its breath, it inhaled before its mouth started to light up. Then, out from its mouth, a bright fireball blasted its way through, hitting the Hackatoo in the face. Startled, Ax shook his head to get the bright flames out of his eyes while simultaneously letting go of Eye-shine.

Grateful to be out of the clutches of the dragon, Eye-shine took its place on its side of the battlefield. But I could tell it was feeling it, it was panting.

"Hmph, using flamethrower to distract Ax? Hm, I guess it makes sense when Terrible Terror's don't really have that much power. A flamethrower from it won't even scratch my dragon." Sage boasted.

"Eye-shine, you okay?" I asked it. It looked back at me with pride in its eyes, balling its tiny paw into a fist. It's still ready to battle. _Alright, flamethrower won't touch it, it's too speedy and that wrap... what can I do?_ _Maybe I can switch? No, not yet. I have faith in my dragon. I have to keep going._ "Alright, Eye-shine, we're just going to have to roll the dice." I told it, it responded by giving a short affirmative growl. _There's gotta be a weakness, every dragon has one._ Very softly, I told my dragon, "Fly around, confuse it, until I can find an opening." Upon request, my dragon took flight, flying around the Hackatoo in a large circle.

"What are you up too?" Sage wondered to herself as she watched the tiny dragon circle around hers. _We better stop it before they do what they want to do._ "Let's finish this, Ax, use guillotine!" She commanded.

"Ashley! If it hits, Eye-shine will be out of the battle," Aldor was starting to panic.

"Don't let it hit, keep flying!" I shouted at Eye-shine hurriedly. _If it hits, it's over._

At lightning speed, Ax took flight and caught up to Eye-shine, it growled as it prepared to lash Eye-shine with its sharp snout.

"Eye-shine, roll then move up!" I commanded. Eye-shine reacted, it rolled to the right, making Ax miss, then it started to immediately head upwards in a strained motion.

"Follow it!" Sage commanded. Ax moved upwards after Eye-shine, that was when I saw it its underbelly through the many legs, it wasn't completely armoured, that was its weak point. But with all of the legs, it wasn't going to be easy.

"Got it! Eye-shine, dive down, and meet it head on!" But Eye-shine knew what I was going for, we were in sync to the max.

Eye-shine did a slow backward flip that angled it towards Ax as it dived down.

"Fine, let's get it over with," Sage shrugged before she smiled. "Now, flamethrower!" She finally said. Ax suddenly opened its mouth and a large fireball raced towards Eye-shine.

"I don't think so, now Eye-shine!" I shouted, I gritted my teeth.

With determination lighting its eyes, it dodged to the left before coming back around under Ax. "Now use your flamethrower!" I pumped my fist into the air excitedly as Eye-shine unleashed its fiery attack at the stomach of the Hackatoo. The Hackatoo screeched in pain, its flight faltering "Another flamethrower!" I couldn't see it through the flames, but I knew that Eye-shine heard me as more flames consumed Ax.

"Ax, get out of there!" Sage shouted horrified. Ax suddenly started to fall, it was quite high in the sky, so when it hits the ground...

Ax suddenly crashed into the ground with a bang, flames finally dispersed, leaving only smoke covering the field. Eye-shine took its place on the ground as it waited for something to happen. The smoke finally cleared. Showing a Hackatoo not moving except for the slight rise and fall of its chest.

"Ax is unable to battle! The Terrible Terror wins this round!" The referee pointed a flag towards me.

"YES! WE DID IT, EYE-SHINE!" I jumped with joy before Eye-shine jumped into my arms making me laugh as it nudged my face.

"I guess big things come in small packages, not bad for a beginner trainer." Sage sighed. "But you still got to win two more battles to win _my_ badge. And I don't give my badges up that easily." Sage then returned her dragon. "Good job, Ax, you gave your all, now take a good rest." She put the draco-ball away. "Alright, Iris, let's win this! Come on out!" She tossed another draco-ball into the air. Her Scuttleclaw came out, I could sense its bursting energy and determination to win.

"We still have far to go, let's do it!" I pumped my fist. Eye-shine jumped back into the battlefield, snarling with hints of challenge in it.

"Battle BEGIN!" The referee waved the flags.

* * *

Will Ashley win her first Gym badge? Or will the tables turn? Read the next chapter to find out.

 **THIS IS A CREDIT NOTE** \- Sage Azura was given to me by a friend who supported me when the story was just starting out. So, I decided to thank that person by using this character in the story. Thank you for giving me such a wonderful and interesting character to work with!


	11. Battle for the Badge: Part 2

_The battle continues for our hero as she battles for the Feather Badge. Will she win it? Or will she be defeated? Read to find out._

* * *

"Battle BEGIN!" The referee waved his flags.

"Alright, Eye-shine, fly up to it!" I commanded. Growling, it took flight and speedily flew up to the big Scuttleclaw. But something was wrong, Sage wasn't doing anything about it. "Eye-shine, use scratch!" I finally commanded when Eye-shine was close enough.

"Slam," Sage said with a confident smile.

"Slam?" I wasn't sure what the move was. But I was going to find out as Iris used her tail as a bat and whacked Eye-shine away from her like it was a baseball. Eye-shine forcefully slammed against the wall to my right. "Eye-shine!" I shouted with worry. But Eye-shine had fainted, after that one attack.

"The Terrible Terror is unable to battle, Iris wins this round!" The referee pointed the flag towards Sage.

"Good job, Iris, that was a perfect shot!" Sage encouraged her dragon.

I walked to Eye-shine, it had came too but was looking a little sad. "Don't worry, Eye-shine, you gave it your all. Time to get a good rest." I gently picked up my dragon, walked towards the end of the battlefield and set it down on the ground. But in my mind as I walked back to my trainer's box, _slam is a powerful move, I've got to be careful. Eye-shine's efforts weren't all in vain, I know about slam. Now I have something else up my sleeve._

"Are you sure you don't want to give up now?" Sage chuckled.

"After just one loss, never! I'll never give up until I get that badge!" I mostly said that to convince myself.

"Tough talk, now you've gotta back it up," Sage smiled as Iris roared challengingly.

Holding a draco-ball in my hand, I was ready, "Sandstorm, I choose you!" I threw the draco-ball to let out my excited Gronckle.

"A Gronckle, eh? This should be interesting," Sage said with a confident smile.

"Trainer's ready?! Battle begin!" The referee waved his flags again.

"Alright, use lava blast!" I commanded. Sandstorm growled as it opened its mouth and unleashed a liquidy ball of hot lava towards Iris.

"Dodge it, then use play rough!" Sage commanded. Iris screeched as she flew up, evading the lava blast.

"Ashley, play rough can lower attack! Move!" Aldor shouted from the stands, I almost forgot he was there.

"Get out of there!" But Sandstorm was too slow, Iris launched its attack, hitting Sandstorm with bold and precise hits before backing into its original spot on the battle field.

"Are you okay?" I asked it as Sandstorm shook it off and gave an assuring growl.

"Now, let's attack, two flamethrowers in a row then follow it up with slam!" Sage directed.

"Defense curl!" I reacted. Sandstorm responded by curling into a tight and bumpy ball.

Iris unleashed her two flamethrowers, a bright blast of green fire that just glance off of the defense curl, but what I was worried about was slam. The moment of truth came as Iris did a triple flip in mid-air before coming down hard, slamming her tail against Sandstorm. But it did nothing, only knocked Iris off balance for a second before it retreated back to its spot on the battle field.

"Great job, Sandstorm, keep up that defense curl!" I encouraged it.

"Relying on defense, are we? Well that won't work on us! Use slam repeatedly!" Sage commanded. Iris roared shrilly as she took to the air, gaining some height before unleashing another slam move with her tail.

 _That defense won't last, even when curled, Sandstorm is still taking damage, but that's not to say that Iris is not getting worn out either. Those attacks must make it worn out even with its boundless energy. I only have a second to unleash my attack before Sandstorm is out of the battle. I just have to time it right, I hope Sandstorm can hold out._

Iris used another direct slam move, Sandstorm started to quiver with each attack. _Not yet._

"Hang in there, Sandstorm!" I encouraged it.

"Sooner or later, that defense will wear down or Sandstorm will take too much damage that it will faint on the spot. Tick tock," Sage smiled snidely. _She was really becoming annoying._

I watched closely for any slip ups from Iris as she unleashed slam after slam. Then, there it was, she got unbalanced from one slam and wobbled in air. "NOW Sandstorm, lava blast!" I shouted. Sandstorm quickly unraveled itself and unleashed a powerful lava blast at the belly of the Scuttleclaw. The blast knocked the Scuttleclaw into the ground with a bang. Dust flew but as it cleared, she was still standing.

"Clever, looking for the right time to attack, but your dragon took more damage than you realise. Iris, flamethrower!" Sage commanded firmly. Before I could react, Iris got into the air and unleashed its green fireball that clashed into Sandstorm with brute force. Smoke enveloped the area, so I couldn't see.

"Sandstorm! Are you okay?" I asked as the smoke cleared, thankfully, it was still standing, or it was, until it collapsed.

"The Gronckle is unable to battle, Iris wins this round!" The referee waved his flag at Sage again.

Sighing, I called Sandstorm back into its draco-ball, "You fought well, now get a good rest," then I put it back in its place on the helm of my jeans.

"One dragon left. Might as well call it quits," Sage shrugged.

"You're dragon isn't looking too good either," I told her, noticing that her Scuttleclaw was panting and its wings were drooping tiredly. Then I whispered to myself, "With this dragon, I'll win, because we are strong." Holding my next draco-ball, I looked at Sage with newfound courage. "I choose you, Ghostwing!" I threw the draco-ball into the air, letting out my white Nadder. Ghostwing roared as he stepped onto the battlefield, raising his wings challengingly.

"So, it's going to be a Sharp Class versus Sharp Class," Sage smiled, though not really bothered that it was a white Nadder. "Bring it on," she dared.

"Ghostwing, I know you can do it!" I encouraged my dragon.

"Trainer's ready? Battle begin!" The referee waved his flags- I wonder if he gets tired from waving his flags all the time.

"Alright, Iris, use play rough!" Iris commanded. Iris immediately took flight.

"Not this time," I said to myself, "Ghostwing, take flight, evade it!" I told him firmly. Ghostwing growled before raising his great wings and took flight, he was up in the air before I could even say my own name. Iris was quickly coming up from behind him, slower than usual I noted. "Behind you Ghostwing, move to the right then tackle it!" I commanded. Ghostwing abruptly moved right, making Iris miss, before rolling into her, knocking her off balance. Ghostwing roared as he grabbed her firmly before doing a slow back flip, making it easier for him to aim towards the ground. He zoomed towards the ground with Iris in his claws, when he was close enough, he let go of Iris, making her forcefully crash into the ground while he flew up safely away from the dust cloud.

As the dust clear, it showed Iris on her side, knocked out.

"Iris is unable to battle, the Deadly Nadder has won the round." The referee waved his flag towards me.

"Good job, Ghostwing! That was amazing!" I jumped into the air excitedly. _Now it's one on one._

"Iris, you were great, now take a good rest," Sage called her dragon back into its draco-ball before putting it away. "Don't count your winnings just yet," she got out her other draco-ball. "Valentine, let's cut the competition, together!"She threw her draco-ball into the air, letting her Windstriker out. Valentine growled before letting out a shrill roar, making the air vibrate.

"Trainer's ready? Begin!" The referee waved his flags again. _It was all or nothing now, I can't lose!_

"Okay, Valentine, fly!" Sage directed. Valentine roared as it raised its wings and abruptly took to the sky, flying as high as the Gym roof.

"Follow it!" I ordered. Ghostwing took flight and caught up to it. I had to crane my neck to get a good look at them as they faced-off in the sky.

"Valentine, use super heat!" Sage commanded.

"That attack can cause a lasting burn if it hits!" Aldor was on edge in the stands.

"A special move... Ghostwing, use magnesium blast, counter it!" I quickly said.

Valentine unleashed her strange looking attack whilst Ghostwing unleashed his, the two attacks collided. Power mixed with power, causing an explosive repercussion. The explosion shook the air and forced the dragons to crash into the ground.

"Get up, Ghostwing!" I told him, he was a little shock from the explosion, as well as Valentine. As Ghostwing got up, so did Valentine.

"Valentine, quickly, use attract!" Sage suddenly commanded.

"Attract?" I wasn't familiar with it. Then something strange happened, Valentine suddenly posed before winking cutely at Ghostwing, it even growled attractively. Upon doing so, several hearts circled around Ghostwing, making him nervous. The hearts suddenly clashed into him, he then started to wobble on his feet. "Ghostwing, what's wrong with you?" I asked him, but he just continued to wobble.

"Attract is a status move that effects dragons of the opposite gender, and makes them, uh, how can I say this, fall in love with the user of attract and makes them not able to battle?" Aldor said uncertainly.

"What?! Ghostwing, snap out of it!" I shouted at my dragon, but he was still in dream land.

"Now's the time, fly, Valentine!" Sage commanded. Taking no time, she took flight and flew up to the spot where she was originally. "Now, skydive!" Sage said with exhilaration. Valentine suddenly dive-bombed, heading straight for Ghostwing.

"Ghostwing, get out of the way!" I shouted at him, but he was still affected by the attract. Valentine suddenly came in, crashing into Ghostwing and causing a dust cloud to poof up. "Ghostwing!" I shouted, searching desperately in the dying cloud of dust. I finally found him, he was on his stomach, wings splayed out, I couldn't see him moving. "Ghostwing, get up, please!" I shouted desperately.

The referee looked at Ghostwing closely before saying "The Deadly Nadder is...," Ghostwing then fidgeted, growling as it slowly, painfully, got up. It was on its feet, but it was shaking. "Let the battle continue!" The referee shouted.

"Ghostwing, are you okay?" I asked it. It growled in response but it was exhausted.

"It's still fighting, hmm, got to hand it to him, he's got spirit," Sage said to herself.

Ghostwing panted as it stared at Valentine, she was panting too, that skydive must have done some recoil damage but she didn't suffer as much damage as Ghostwing had.

"You better retreat, Ashley, Ghostwing isn't looking too good," Aldor warned. _He was right, Ghostwing can barely stand up. One more hit and that's it._ There was pressure on my shoulders, I really want that badge, but my dragon's life is more important. I could feel sweat drip down my face, but _if I give up, I'm a coward to myself, if I don't, well, I don't know what will happen. It's too hard!_ There was a soft but determined growl, I looked at Ghostwing. He was looking at me with fire in his slitted eyes.

"Are you sure?" I asked it. It roared loudly in response. _He's just like me, he won't quit until the last of his breath. He won't quit until he has gave it his all._ "Alright, I'm right with you!" I stared at Valentine, _I have to get it into the air, it's my only chance._ "Ghostwing, use magnesium blast!" I commanded and Ghostwing didn't hesitate. Growling, he spewed out his sparking fire towards the Windstriker.

"Dodge it!" Sage shouted and Valentine reacted. The magnesium blast missed the target, but the dragon was in the air, I just need to get it higher.

"Ghostwing, use the last of your strength, fly!" I shouted, trying my best to encourage him. Ghostwing raised its wings and took into a slow flight.

"Fly higher and use skydive!" Sage commanded and Valentine did just that, she got higher, but Ghostwing couldn't get to it fast enough. She slipped into its dive, heading straight for Ghostwing.

"Now, grab it!" I shouted, Ghostwing growled as it turned itself, grabbed the dragon, then finished its dive, using his weight to drive them faster, but they were both going to crash. At a high speed, they both crashed into the ground, the impact made me cringe as dust covered the field. As the dust dispersed, I saw the two dragons facing each other, both staring at each other with slitted yet worn out eyes. It was a standoff, daring each other to fall first. It was quiet and tense, time felt like it slowed to a crawl, I was on the edge of my teeth.

Then, Valentine collapsed.

"Valentine is unable to battle, therefore, the winner of this battle is Ashley Aldez of Poffalo Town!" The referee pointed his flag at me. At first, I didn't hear it, I was too shock but then it started to get to me.

"We won?" I wondered stupidly. "We won!" I leaped with joy before I ran towards the exhausted Ghostwing. "Thank you, Ghostwing, you hanged in there, I'm so proud of you!" I hugged Ghostwing. He growled happily. "Take a good rest, you've earned it," I called him back into his draco-ball.

I looked at Sage, who was cradling Valentine's head lovingly as her dragon looked at her. "You were great, Valentine, there is no shame in losing that battle. Take a good rest," Sage called her dragon back into its draco-ball then faced me. "I thought we won there for a sec, but I guess it was not to be. I learned a lot from our battle." Sage smiled, showing a little red in her cheeks from embarrassment. She then stuck out her hand.

"I learned a lot too," I took it, this time, I was actually glad to shake her hand.

"Now I believe that I have something of yours." From her bag, she dug out something shiny and presented it to me in the palm of her hand. "The Feather Badge, this is proof of your win against the Clear-Glass Gym. Congratulations!"

"Aw, thanks!" I took the feather looking badge, excitement started to boil in my veins. "Yea! I got the Feather Badge! My first one!" I held the badge in the air triumphantly.

"Remember, you may have some pretty smart tricks up your sleeve, but sometimes, you just need to trust your dragon's abilities and your own and you can win the trickiest of battles. Just believe, and you can go far," she smiled. _Trust my dragon's abilities and my own,_ the thought rang in my head.

"Thanks," I smiled back.

"Congratulations, you won your first badge, but I think Eye-shine and the others need to see the Dragon Center." Aldor came up from behind me with Eye-shine in his arms.

"Right, thanks for the battle, Sage, I hope we see each other again," I waved goodbye to her before I ran out of the Gym.

"Oh, I'm sure we will, Ashley Aldez, sooner than you think," she said to herself. "She has a great future ahead of her, but her destiny is still to come. Someone will be very happy to see her." She just smiled knowingly.

* * *

Back at the Dragon Center, while my dragons were recuperating from the battle, I decided to call Mom to tell her the news. I dialed on the screen phone and waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?" My mom's face appeared on the screen.

"Hey, Mom!" I called happily.

"Ashley! How have you been? Where are you calling from? Are you doing alright?" She asked me. _Same old, same old, you can't stop mother's from worrying._

"I'm doing okay, I'm in Clear-Glass City now." I told her.

"Wow, Clear-Glass City? What's it like there?" She asked.

"Uh, busy, and noisy, not to mention crowded. But that's not what I called you for," I got out my badge and showed it to her, "check it out! I got my first badge!" I smiled proudly.

"Oh, wow! Now you only have seven more to go! I know you'll do great!" She said encouragingly.

"Thanks Mom! I wouldn't have gotten it without all of my dragon's help!" I told her. There was a screech behind me and Eye-shine suddenly jumped onto my shoulders and peered into the screen.

"Oh, I see your Terrible Terror is doing alright!" Mom smiled. "Hi, little guy!" She waved.

"It's name is Eye-shine," I told her.

"Oh, what a beautiful name that is!"

"Hey, who are you calling?" Aldor asked me as he looked into the screen behind me.

"Just my mom," I told him.

"Who's this?" She asked.

"My name is Aldor, Mrs. Aldez, it's a pleasure to meet you," Aldor introduced himself.

"Aldor, such a handsome name for a handsome boy!" Mom cheered.

"What?" Aldor was a little shocked.

"Okay, bye Mom, hanging up!" I pressed the hangup button before she could protest, the screen went dark. Embarrassment flashed through me hotly as I slowly turned to look at Aldor. "Hehe, that's Mom for ya," I chuckled awkwardly, knowing that my cheeks had turned tomato red.

"I'm not even going to say anything," he shrugged before he walked off.

"Ugh, how embarrassing," I grumbled as I covered my face with my hands. Eye-shine cooed softly. "Oh shut up!" I scolded it, "I'll call her later, maybe when Aldor isn't around." With that, I walked off with Eye-shine perched on my shoulder.

* * *

After a good supper, we finally went to bed in separate rented rooms in the Dragon Center. But I just couldn't sleep, I was still gazing at my Feather Badge.

"Only seven more to go, we're on our way." I clenched the badge tightly in my hand. "I will win the rest just like I won this one." Looking at my sleeping Terrible Terror, I softly stroked its head, it started to purr. "I will win the rest of my badges with my dragons." My eyes grew heavy until I fell soundly asleep.

* * *

 _"Many trainers can have tricks up their sleeves. But trust your dragon's instincts, and your own, and you can win the trickiest of battles."_ \- From the person who originally made Sage Azura.

Dragon Encyclopedia:

Hackatoo: It's colors are normally different types of light browns and have stripes that decorate its neck all the way down to its tail.

Shot limit: six

Abilities: Can chop down trees, or opponents, with its sharp ax-like snout. It can also be a good defense.

Sage's dragon- Ax

Gender: male

Appearance: Exotic yellow with pink leopard spots.

Ax's moves: Flamethrower (a normal fireball), Leer, Guillotine, and Wrap.

* * *

Scuttleclaw: Every dragon comes in a variety of colors and are also know to be rambunctious, energetic, and very hard to train at times.

Shot limit: 8

Abilities: Because of their energetic nature, Scuttleclaws can quickly evade attacks of their opponents or attack first with power. They are also very strong, with a lot of strength and stamina, they can fly for hours without getting tired.

Sage's dragon- Iris

Gender: female

Appearance: Bright purple scales with bright blue on her wings.

Iris's moves: Flamethrower (a greenish fireball), Autotomize, Play Rough, and Slam.

* * *

Windstriker: Can come in a variety of colors but mostly stay a mostly silver color. With its calm and friendly nature, it's very easy to train.

Shot limit: 6

Abilities: Can fire super heated air that is hot enough to burn targets.

Sage's dragon- Valentine

Gender: female

Appearance: A silver body with outline yellow circles all the way down from her neck to her tail. It also has bright yellow wing tips.

Valentine's moves: Super Heat (a special attack of super heated air), Attract, Fly followed by Skydive, and False swipe. She also has a soothe bell at the base of her neck though she never used it.

* * *

All credit goes to my friend who made Sage Azura and her dragons. Once again, thank you so much.


	12. Upon Big Wings

"So, where exactly are we going?" I asked Aldor as we walked through the ever busy crowd the next day.

"You'll see, and I'll think you'll like it." Aldor smiled as he led me through the crowd. I sighed with annoyance along with Eye-shine, I was getting tired of traveling through a crowd and so was Eye-shine.

"Can't we just walk out of here before we get stomped on?" I asked him blankly.

"Oh, this is better than walking." He promised.

"It better be, or there's going to be a fireball with your name on it," I threatened him.

"Ah, Eye-shine would never fire at me." Aldor smiled.

"Maybe not, but it's getting to where it will if we don't get out of this crowd!" I growled at him. "And if Eye-shine doesn't send a fireball your way, I'm sure Ghostwing will." I crossed my arms as we waited for the walking sign to go green.

"So impatient." Aldor said jokingly. We started to walk across the street along with dozens of other people, mostly just bumping and shoving against me. On the other side of the sidewalk, I bumped, head first, into another person.

"Ack! What is it with people wanting to bump into me!" I shouted angrily as I put my hand over the sore spot.

"Sorry, I- I'm sorry," a girl I had originally bumped into quietly apologized. She had red-brown curly hair that extended below her shoulders and drooped down in front of her. She had freckles that dappled her cheeks and had shy blue-grey eyes. She had a dark grey, almost black, jacket on her with a a brownish-orange shirt with white polka-dots on it. She had dark bluish-black loose pants with sneakers to complete the set. She looked good, she had a sense of style, but, I can tell she was very shy. A brown satchel was laying on the ground, she probably dropped it when I bumped into her.

"No, it's okay, I didn't mean to shout." I said softly to her as I bent down and picked up her bag. I then handed it to her, but, she was sort of uncertain to take it. "Isn't this yours?" I asked her.

"Y-yes," she whispered quietly that I could barely hear her. With shaky hands, she took the bag and slipped it on, wearing it cross-body with the bag hanging in the front. She bowed her head, not meeting my eyes, but instead, said "thank you". A car honked nearby that made the girl nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Hey, it's okay, where are you going?" Aldor asked her.

"T-the Taxi," she stuttered, not looking at Aldor. "C-can you s-show me where it is? I'm lost," she said. She looked more like a lost child with no mom.

"Of course, that's where we're heading." Aldor smiled.

"What? A Taxi? A yellow cab? You can get them anywhere in the city." I told him.

"That's not what she means, Ashley," Aldor shook his head. Eye-shine suddenly jumped at the girl happily, nearly scaring the girl half to death.

"Eye-shine, that's not polite, get back on my shoulder," I scolded it. Growling complainingly, it perched on my shoulder again but continued to growl a greeting.

"A-a Terrible Terror?" She asked as she looked at the dragon.

"Yeah, Eye-shine is my first dragon partner and best friend," I scratched Eye-shine chin, it started to chortle happily, its eyes lolled. The girl then got out a draco-ball from her satchel and held it out.

"I have one too, Spring-shot, come out, please," the draco-ball opened to let out a strange looking Terror. It had bright red horns- same color as his back spines- but it was mainly a bright blue color. His wings were green with white speckles on them. His underbelly had a sort lime green color.

"It's kinda cute," I smiled.

"But he's a prankster, aren't you, Spring-shot," Spring-shot then glared at me, it kinda freaked me out.

"That'... nice," I smiled awkwardly.

"So, care to tell us your name?" Aldor asked.

"Oh, uh," she lowered her eyes. "It's Jasmine, Jasmine Jones." She told us.

"My name's Aldor and this is Ashley, we're traveling together so she can win some Gym badges." Aldor explained.

"That's nice," she said looking down.

"Well, Jasmine, if you follow us, we can lead you to the Taxi." Aldor offered.

"Oh, well, that's sweet, but," she was about to hesitate but then Spring-shot jumped onto her shoulder and purred at her, sounding like he was cheering her on, "well, okay."

"Well, okay! Let's go!" I turned around to take the lead but I couldn't move my feet with me then I suddenly fell. "Ow!" I looked to see my tennis shoes were tied together. "How did that happen?" I wondered.

"Spring-shot, that wasn't nice, apologize to her right now!" Jasmine suspended Spring-shot in the air towards me to get him to apologize to me- he looked miserable, like he didn't want to apologize. But, instead, he stuck his forked tongue at me rudely.

"He's worse than Eye-shine," I scratched my head. "You know what, uh, Jasmine, this happens to me all the time." I untied my shoes, re-tied them, then got up. "Nothing was permanently damaged," I said with a smile, trying to seem that I okay with it.

"Anyway, how about we get going," Aldor rolled his eyes before he suddenly fell on the ground when he moved his feet, his tennis shoes were tied together as well. I had to stifle a laugh as he grumbled aggravatedly.

* * *

"Well, here we are," Aldor presented a sign that bared the word "Taxi" in large printed letters.

"So... What's so special about a Taxi?" I asked him.

"Well, if you must know, it's an air Taxi, it can take us to the next town. Saving us from all walking and foot sores." Aldor announced proudly. "I've always wanted to ride one of these!" Right now, he looked like a kid waiting for his Birthday or a Christmas present he knows he's going to get- and people say that I act like a kid. I looked at the sign closely, it had a target sign under the "Taxi", but there was a dragon with large wings covering almost the whole target. It's wings were gigantic.

"Hey, what's that dragon?" I pointed it out.

"You'll see when we get to it," Aldor was basically leaping with joy.

"I've never seen it," Jasmine came up from behind me, nearly startling me out of my skin.

"Geez! You need to stop sneaking up on people," I advised her.

"Oh, sorry," she looked down. Her Spring-shot, who was still on her shoulder, glared at me. "Spring-shot, don't glare at people, it's not nice, please return," Jasmine returned her Terrible Terror into its draco-ball before putting it away in her bag. Rolling my eyes, I followed Aldor to the "Taxi" or whatever it was. Then, there was a sudden bellow, glass on nearby buildings vibrated from it.

"What was that?" I asked tensely.

"There is is!" Aldor exclaimed, I don't even think he heard me. Past the line of people, was a large, yet, skinny dragon. It had curved horns on its head, an overbite with long and sharp teeth, large nostrils, and a skinny snout. It also had a "beard" on its chin, though it was formed by four small and flimsy spikes. But what mostly caught my eyes were its gigantic wings, they were large scrunched up, can't imagine how big they were when they were spread out. The dragon had no legs except for a snake like body, I guess the gigantic wings were its legs. It also had an orangish-brown color, with white speckles on its wings. There was something else, it had a large saddle with several seats on its back, some people were already on it, sitting on the saddle.

"What is it?" I got out my dragon-dext from my pocket and pointed it at it.

 _"Timberjack, the sharp-wing dragon and part of the Sharp Class of dragons. With its wing spreading bigger than a football field, this dragon can glide long distances without flapping. But the Timberjack's wings are not just big, they are also sharp. Sharp enough to cut down trees with one wing stroke- hence the name: Timberjack."_ Dexter replied.

"Geez, that thing can clear a forest with those wings!" I marveled at the dragon, it sounded as cool as it looked.

"Timberjacks can carry a lot of weight while gliding too, that's why most of them have the job of being a Taxi. They can carry people in swift yet gentle strides. Though I wouldn't advise riding it if you have a tendency to get air-sick." Aldor told us.

"Cool, at least I know that I won't fall off the dragon." I said sarcastically.

"Oh, you can't, there are safety measures to make sure that you don't fall off." Aldor said, sort of assuring me and Jasmine.

"Uh, huh, only problem is we have a line to get through. And that could take hours," I looked at the long line.

"Hey! You two! You're under arrest!" A voice boomed.

"Hey, what did we do wrong!" I shouted, only now realising that it was Officer James who was talking to us.

"Ha, ha, just messing with ya, I just came to tell you thanks," Officer James smiled- which was really strange, even for him.

"Thanks for what?" I asked him.

"For helping us out with that Nadder," he tapped my shoulder happily, though it felt like he punched it. I rubbed sore spot while forcing out a happy laugh.

"I still wonder why that Nadder was still on a rampage," I told him.

"Well, I'll tell ya'll, but we'll have to talk somewhere else." Officer James beckoned us.

"But if we don't wait in line now, we may never get to ride on the Timberjack," Aldor almost complained, until Officer James gave him the cold eyes, then he decided to shut up. After we found a good spot away from any crowds, he searched in his pocket for something until he found it. He presented us with a green spike of some sort. We all looked at it, even Jasmine, but there was something wrong. Eye-shine was coiling back in anger, even hissing.

"What is it?" Aldor asked.

"Dragon Root," Officer James said, Aldor nearly fell back in shock.

"What's Dragon Root?" I asked him.

"Well, Dragon Root is a root that can affect every dragon except Boulder Class. While Dragon Nip makes a dragon calm and happy, Dragon Root makes dragons act aggressive and want to fight each other- sometimes to the death." Officer James explained.

"But that doesn't look like any Dragon Root I've seen," Aldor looked at the barb.

"No, because this was concentrated into a sharp barb by an organization called Team Psychic who plan to take over the world one day. This is one of their works and only they can do it perfectly. With these barbs, you never know what can happen to a dragon, they can either make a dragon feel woozy to where they are easy to capture or they can harness the full power of the Dragon Root to make a dragon attack mercilessly at anything it sees." He explained with a hint of anger in his voice.

"But, why the Nadder?" I asked him, greatly worried.

"I don't know, but if a Nadder was exposed to it, I doubt it would be the last. So you've got to watch out." The Officer warned us. "See or hear anything that concerns Dragon Root, report it to me and only me.

"We will," Aldor promised. I nodded before I looked at the long line- a lot longer than it was before.

"Oh great, now we'll never get a ride on the Taxi," I grumbled, Jasmine and Aldor grumbled when they realised it too.

"Actually, I might help with that," Officer James pointed it out. And we all looked at him.

* * *

Finally, after loading ten passengers, including us, onto the Taxi, we were waiting for the guy in charge of the dragon. Then he showed up, he was kinda old, had a white beard and goggles like you would see people in old time air planes wear. He also had a tan colored cowboy hat on that was tied around his chin.

"It was nice of that Officer James let us cut through the line, now we can get to the town faster." Jasmine said.

"Yeah, and free of charge," I said next before buckling myself in tightly, it was just a seat-belt strap without the shoulder strap. And the seats weren't all the comfortable either, it was just something to prop our backs against. The seats were tightly bunched together in two rows with five seats in each.

"Passengers! My name is Rick, I'll be your driver from here to your destination. Welcome to the Taxi! Just hold on, we'll take off soon but I advise that you brace yourselves for the ascent." The guy, Rick, who is in charge of the dragon, and our safety, announced. "If you get sick, well, tough luck, swallow a bug, not my problem, if you couldn't handle little things like that, then I don't know why you jumped onto this ride in the first place!" The guy suddenly busted out laughing.

"What?!" I said horrified.

"Alright, hold onto your lunch, we're lifting off! Alpha-Taxi, let's go! Yehooo!" The guy yelped excitedly as the Timberjack suddenly raised its gigantic wings. With a heaving grunt, the dragon pushed itself into the sky. Air rushed against us and we held onto our seats for dear life. Some of the other people screamed, either in excitement or horror, I couldn't tell through the wind in my ears.

"This is so exciting!" Jasmine said as wind puffed up her cheeks goofily beside me.

"I've never been on an air Taxi! This is so exciting!" Aldor said behind me as he raised his hands while he screamed happily/fearfully like he was a child on a roller coaster. Eye-shine was on my lap, basically doing the same thing.

"I think I'm going to be sick," I gagged, "I shouldn't have eaten so many pancakes," I held my mouth. "Or that extra serving of bacon." The dragon continued to ascend, flapping its big wings in fast flaps that carried it upward with each turn. Then, to my relief, the dragon finally leveled off and I could let go of my seat. From there, it just continued to gently glide, riding the wind.

"Oh, man, that was exciting!" Aldor said exhilarated.

"Yeah, most fun I've had fun in ages," Jasmine agreed as she fixed her curly hair. "What did you think, Ashley? Ashley? Ashley, are you okay? You look green." Jasmine said with a hint of chuckle.

"Remind me to never fly again," I moaned, clenching my stomach.

"I thought you weren't air-sick." Aldor looked at me funnily.

"I don't, it's the ascent and descent that gets me." I groaned.

"Yet, you flew a Nadder?" Aldor said with a teasing chuckle.

"Shut up," I growled before I gagged again. "Okay, how long until we land?" I asked.

"About an hour, give or take if the wind helps us along." Aldor told me.

I groaned, clenching my stomach while Eye-shine laughed. "You too, shut up," I scolded it. I looked to the clouds above us, concentrate on anything but anything that could set me off. That was when I saw a strange shadow in the fluffy white cloud, then just like that, it disappeared. "That was peculiar," I searched around to see if I could spot it again but then I gave up. "This flight has messed with my head, I'm hallucinating." I shook my head.

"Hey, Jasmine, where are you traveling? Did you go to Clear-Glass City to earn a Gym Badge?" Aldor asked her.

"I won mine!" I showed her my Feather Badge that was pinned into the inside of my vest, it was sparkling.

"Well, honestly, I don't know what I want to do. I'm just on this journey because my Mom would thought it would be good for my social skills." She simply shrugged.

"I see," Aldor nodded understandingly.

"I'm thirteen years old now, but I started my journey two weeks ago, I never wanted to be on a journey, but my mother made me." She explained sadly.

"But a journey doesn't have to be all bad." I told her. "You can make friends, have fun, travel, win battles with your dragons." She looked down, staring at her sneakers.

"I have a hard time making friends, mostly because I'm too shy to talk to anyone." She whispered.

"You're talking to us," I pointed out, she just continued to stare at her feet, "so that means _we're_ friends," I threw my arm over her and hugged her sort of. I could have sworn I saw a blush from her but I guess I had imagined it.

"Thank you," she said softly. That was when a flash of fire zoomed past us, startling us as the Timberjack screeched and slowed to a short stop.

"Hold it there!" A voice growled as a guy covered in black cloth flew up to us on his strange dragon, only his green eyes were visible. He had a symbol on his shirt, it had a white skull with a lightning bolt cracking through it. Instinctively, I got out my dragon-dext and scanned the dragon.

 _"Monstrous Nightmare, the flame dragon and part of the Stoker Class dragon. This dragon is covered in a flammable gel that is able flame up at will. Though very hot-headed and stubborn, these dragon can incredibly loyal to their trainer if they want too. Shot limit- 10."_ Dexter replied.

"Monstrous Nightmare," I stared at the large dragon, it had reddish orange scales with dark markings and a creamy belly. It had no front limbs, only back legs and two large wings. It had long claws, sneering eyes, and an overbite of teeth. It looked monstrous, and grumpy as its trainer stood up on the saddle on the back.

"If you cooperate, we will set you free, but if you don't, well, let's just say me and my buddies will roast you." The guy said through his black mask. Just then, three more dragon appeared with riders on their backs. A green Deadly Nadder, a green Hideous Zippleback, and another Monstrous Nightmare- only it was a blue-red color. "We are Team Psychic, the biggest and baddest team in the Livid Region." The guy explained.

"What?! This is outrageous, that team died long ago!" Rick growled as he looked at the guy on the Monstrous Nightmare.

"Now we're back and better than ever," another guy, sounded like a woman, cackled.

Anger coiled in me, _what were the chances we meet them today?_

"Now, hand us all of your draco-balls with your dragons in them and we'll let you go peacefully. If not, well, let's just say that this Big Bird will be in a crash landing with all of you on it!" The guy sneeringly looked at us, as if daring us. Without a plan, I unbuckled my seatbelt and bolted up.

"Over my dead body!" I shouted back at him.

"What?" He growled.

"Ashley, don't!" Aldor warned me, trying to grab my arm but I just shoved him away.

"They are our dragons, our friends! And you can't take them!" I told them, Eye-shine growled at the guy.

"Hmph, and what are you going to do? You're out-numbered, how are you going to defend your crew?" He asked.

Angrily, I got out a draco-ball and held it tightly in my hand.

"Don't mine them, miss, even with passengers onboard, Alpha can still put up a good fight, tighten your buckles everyone, we're in for a ride!" Rick shouted, and everyone did. I even sat back down and tightened my seat belt until it couldn't get any tighter. "Hang on! Yeehaa!" The Timberjack suddenly lurched into a dive, wind raced against our faces, making it hard to breath. Rick was directing the Timberjack as it swerved to the right, avoiding a fireball.

"Ghostwing, help us out, please!" I opened the draco-ball in my hand to let out Ghostwing, some of the passengers onboard nearly fainted when they saw him. "Ghostwing, magnesium blast!" I ordered, Ghostwing growled as it aimed at a Zippleback that was getting too close to us. Unleashing his sparking attack and knocking the Zippleback away from us.

"A white Nadder, so you were the ones who attacked the blue Nadder." The growled as he directed his Monstrous Nightmare to dive towards the Timberjack. My stomach lurched as we suddenly leveled off then zoomed towards the sky, it happened so fast my body started to tingle. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ghostwing was quarreling with the other Nadder, the trainer barking out commands as they tackled each other.

"Ghostwing needs help, Sandstorm, help him out!" I called out my Gronckle who immediately headed towards the two Nadders. Ahead of us, the Monstrous Nightmare got in front of us.

"Kerosene Fire!" The guy ordered and the dragon responded, opening its mouth to unleash its deadly attack.

"Alpha, Oil Burn, let's go!" Rick reacted and Alpha responded by blasting out a strange type of fire that intercepted the liquidy fire of the Monstrous Nightmare. Fire splattered everywhere as it threatened to scorch us. "To the right!" Rick ordered, Alpha growled as it angled its wings to make a sharp right turn to dodge the fire. But the guy didn't follow us after that, his dragon hovered in the air as it watched us escape. I sighed with relief as Ghostwing and Sandstorm came up beside us.

"Thanks you two," I called both of them back into their draco-balls as we continued to fly, faster than the normal slow pace.

* * *

It took awhile, but we finally made it. Luxury Town was our next stop, and, boy, was I glad to get off. My stomach grumbled sickly as I wobbly got off of the Taxi.

"Boy, I'm starving, how 'bout some food?" Aldor asked me and Jasmine.

"I'm famished." Jasmine said with a tiny smile.

"Please, don't talk about food," I felt so queasy I gagged. Eye-shine snickered on my shoulder, "You're used to flying, I'm not, so be quiet," I growled at it.

Aldor rolled his eyes, "I guess this ends out flying trips."

"I can fly, just not when I have a full stomach." I scorned. Aldor suddenly bursted out laughing, Eye-shine too. "Shut up!" I punched his arm teasingly, fighting off the hint of my own laughter.

"Um, guys?" A voice called that was so soft that we could barely hear it, we all looked at Jasmine. "C-can I travel with you?" Jasmine stuttered over the words.

Me and Aldor both looked at each other uncertainly. "I-I mean, I would like too, I-I want to become friends with other dragons too. I want to b-build my courage so I can face off anything." She said quietly, avoiding our gazes.

"Of course you can come! The more the merrier!" I told her excitedly.

"It'd be nice to have someone else to talk to other than loud mouth," Aldor pointed to me.

"Hey!" I shouted at him.

"Oh, thank you!" She was about to reach up, like she was about to hug us, but then she retracted subtly. I could tell she was surprised by our answer but she was still shy about it.

"Oh come on!" I hugged her instead, Aldor followed in, as we squeezed Jasmine gently. A flash of embarrassment flashed through Jasmine before it turned into an actual blush.

"Thank you," she said softly, but not loud enough for us to hear as we seperated.

"Come on, let's eat!" I jumped excitedly.

"I thought you were going to be sick," Aldor crossed his arms.

"Not anymore, come on!" I suddenly ran, with Eye-shine flying beside me and my two friends following behind me.

* * *

 **Character Credit-** Jasmine Jones was a character that was given to me by another person. So, thank you for giving me such a wonderful character to work with!

* * *

So guys, how are you liking the story so far? What did you think about the Gym battle? What are some things that I need to fix or add to the characters or plot? Please answer these questions by leaving a review!


	13. Secret Hearts of Friendship

"So, exactly where is our next stop?" I asked as I slurped down my cold cup of Coke with a straw. It felt good to have something cold, sweet, and filled with carbon fizz like Coke after a long ride on a flying Taxi. Eye-shine just had a bowl of fresh water and Jasmine was drinking her Mountain Dew while Aldor looked at the map.

"Isn't the closest Gym in Rumble Town?" Jasmine asked as she took a break from drinking her Mountain Dew.

"Uh, no, it's uh..." Aldor searched the map hurriedly before I grabbed it out of his hands.

"Ugh, you take too long," I glance at the map closely until Jasmine pointed at "Rumble Town" with her finger.

"See? Rumble Town is closer than any of the other Gyms to Luxury Town. We can make it there in a day," she said before she slurped more of her Mountain Dew with her straw.

"I'm sure that other towns have better Gyms, we don't have to go there," Aldor said, trying to change my mind.

"Actually, I've heard the Rumble Town Gym was actually quite tough, the Gym leader specializes in Boulder Class dragons and base his strategy with defense," Jasmine said.

"Cool, a challenge, I'll need to train my dragons hard if we want to win. Okay, Rumble Town it is." I said happily, though, I noted that something wasn't right with Aldor.

"I passed by there already, so I can show you the way," Jasmine offered.

"Great, after we finished our drinks, we can go," I drank from my cup of Coke as did Jasmine.

"We don't have to rush, don't you need to take care of your dragons?" Aldor asked me.

"Oh, yeah, they must need a little R&R after that battle." I thought for a moment. "Might as well, this way, we can have the Nurse look after all of our dragons." I said. I turned my back, but then I heard Aldor sigh with relief, which was strange.

* * *

"Here you go, your dragons are all feeling much better!" Nurse Lily, a Nurse with a blue and white outfit, smiled.

"Thanks, Nurse Lily," I took my draco-balls from the tray and put them back onto the helm of my jeans. Eye-shine jumped onto my shoulders excitedly, it nipped at my hair. "Glad you're feeling better, buddy, you're psyched for the battle aren't you?" I scratched its chin, it cooed happily.

"Where's Aldor?" Jasmine asked behind me.

"I don't know, he was waiting with me a minute ago," I looked around through the mass of people. "Maybe he went to get something to eat?" I suggested uncertainly.

"Or maybe he's outside?" Jasmine suggested next.

"You look in the lunchroom and I'll look outside." Then I rushed towards the door, running towards the outside. Before I could call his name, I spotted him on the steps. He was holding something in his hands, it looked like a picture. From a distance, I couldn't make out what was on it. He looked at it sadly, I could tell he had been crying. Something was wrong, I just know it in my gut.

"Aldor, I finally found you!" I shouted at him, he jerked, putting the picture away and wiped his face to get rid of any evidence. I sat by him, he looked away. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Nothing," he said back grumpily.

"Hey, if you want to talk, then talk, I'll listen." I offered.

"I told you, it's nothing," He turned away. He wasn't acting like Aldor at all.

"I'm just trying to help," I said as calmly as I could.

"If I needed your help, I would ask it," he stood up and walked away.

"What's wrong with him, Eye-shine?" I asked my dragon, it growled in confusement.

"Ashley!" Jasmine ran up to me, "where's he going?" She asked.

"I don't know, but I'm getting worried. He doesn't normally act like this." I looked as Aldor walked towards the Center. _I wonder._

"What do we do now? Should we just go?" Jasmine asked me.

"I don't know, there's a part of me that does, but I don't want to leave Aldor behind." I said unsurely.

"But you two are friends, aren't you?" Jasmine asked me. I sighed, _technically we weren't friends, we were just brought together by Eye-shine's low on flame, but, yeah. We are._ Silently, I walked back into the Dragon Center with Eye-shine on my shoulder.

"They need motivation, and they need it bad," Jasmine realised. "Wait, I've got an idea."

* * *

 _In the Center..._

"Nurse Lily, do you know the boy I was with went?" I asked the Nurse behind the counter.

"I think he went to the cafeteria," she pointed towards the cafeteria.

"Okay, thanks," then I headed towards the cafeteria. Sure enough, he was there, he was just sitting on a buffet chair just staring down.

"Hey, Aldor," I walked up to him and sat down beside him.

"You should be moving on, you need to get to the next Gym," he said, looking sad.

"Do you _want_ me to leave you here? Come on, you've been acting strange since you heard the name 'Rumble Town'. What's going on?" I asked him.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said firmly.

"Hey, I'm trying to be sincere here, and it's not that easy. So talk." I crossed my arms.

"Remember, I'm older than you by five years, so, you can't boss me around." He said with a slight chuckle.

"Maybe not, but I can still punch you, and people in my town say that I have a mean punch." I simply said.

"You wouldn't understand, anyway, it's a personal matter."

I scoffed, "Sure," I said accusingly.

"Hey? Guys?" An unsure voice said behind us and we turned around to see Jasmine standing shyly behind us with her hands folded behind her.

"Where have you been?" I asked.

"Oh, just went to get something," she shrugged shyly, making her curls bounce subtly.

"Yeah, what?" Aldor asked next. From behind her back, she presented two elastic bracelets, about two fingers wide and both had different colors. One was a light brown color with a light blue target symbol in the middle of the band. And the other one was a white color with a red target symbol in the middle. Same bracelets, different colors. Stretch it enough, and it could be a hair band for a pony tail or something.

"I know you two are have been fighting sort of, but, I thought this might cheer you up." She said with a meek smile. "Maybe with these, your friendship can get stronger." She suggested. "Hold out your hands." She said. I held out my right hand and so did Aldor as Jasmine placed the white bracelet around my wrist and the brown one on Aldor's. "As long as the bracelets are on your wrist, your friendship will always remain strong." She promised.

"Jasmine, I don't know what to say," I looked at the bracelet feeling like I've been given my soul. I was proud, nobody was ever this nice to me in my town friend wise. In fact, I didn't have any friends in my town unless you count my cousin, I wonder how she's doing.

"Thank you Jasmine," Aldor said as he looked at his bracelet. "That's really kind of you." He said with a smile, suddenly looking sad.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing, you know what, I feel much better now. How about we get going to Rumble Town?" He suggested.

"Are you sure?" I asked him, _the only reason this whole mess was started was because he was afraid to go there._

"I'm sure," he nodded.

"Well, alright, then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Then I bolted out of the cafeteria like I was shot out of a cannon.

"Ashley, wait up!" Jasmine ran after me.

"Hm, at least I know that I won't be alone," Aldor looked at his bracelet, "maybe now, I can face him."

"Aldor, come on!" I shouted at him.

"Coming," he got up and followed us out of the Center. The travel to Rumble Town was now beginning.

* * *

Sorry for the short chapter everyone, but this was more of a bonding chapter. They will be in the town by the next chapter. So thank you for your patience.


	14. The Truth

"Eye-shine, Flamethrower, Sandstorm, Lava Blast, and Ghostwing, Magnesium Blast!" I swiftly commanded, all of my dragons growled determinedly before launching their attacks- flames bursted, lava blasted, sparks flew as they attacked the different trees as their targets. "Great! But you need to react faster to my commands so we can get the first move in." I told them. "Eye-shine, Flamethrower, there!" I pointed to a rock nearby, Eye-shine reacted, a little slow for my opinion, but it was getting better. "Now, use agility through the forest!" I shouted. Eye-shine roared as it suddenly zipped and zoomed through the forest like a lightning bolt, avoiding all the trees in the area. "Ghostwing, fly upwards then go into a deep dive, go!" I commanded next. Ghostwing roared as it raised its wings, it did a single heaving flap and it was in the air. Air whooshed through the ground from the flap, blowing wind my hair in my face and blinding me for a second. "Ugh, stupid hair," I brushed it out of my face in time to see Ghostwing suddenly turn into a steep dive very quickly. "Good, Ghostwing!" I encouraged.

"Wow, she's pumped," Jasmine simply commented.

"But it's going to take more than that to beat the Gym Leader," Aldor crossed his arms.

"How would you know?" Jasmine asked.

"Just a hunch, the last Gym Leader wasn't easy, I would expect the same for this one." Aldor said, looking down.

"Eye-shine, dodge through the trees and hit that rock with your Flamethrower!" I shouted. Eye-shine pumped its wings faster, zipping through the trees easily and smoothly before coming up to a large rock and blasting it with its fiery breath. "Great, Eye-shine! Wow, you're so fast!" Eye-shine leapt into my arms and I hugged it.

"Great, but you can't always rely on speed," Aldor said.

"Uh, yeah you can, it always gives you the first attack." I said.

"You're strategy of ramming things head on won't always work, sometimes you've got to use your dragon's abilities to the fullest. Turn your dragon's disadvantage to an advantage." He advised.

"And how would you do that?" I asked him.

"You'll have to figure that out on your own." He said.

"Hmph, you're no fun," I grumped, crossing my arms.

"Hey, as a trainer, you need to figure things out on your own." He simply said. I looked at him, like, "seriously?"

"How long until we make it to Rumble Town?" I asked.

"It's right over that hill." Jasmine pointed to a distant hill.

"Alright, let's train some more and we'll get going." I said. "Sandstorm, Lava Blast on that rock!"

* * *

Finally in Rumble Town, we walked through the streets. Stone paths, different shops, and lots of people. Terrible Terror's flew overhead, clusters of people going to who knows where. I could see the Center in the distance.

"I think we need to visit the center so the dragons can get refueled and recharged for the battle." I suggested.

"Well, yeah, can't exactly battle with only half of your shots there." Aldor said in a "duh" kind of tone. I scoffed as I walked towards the Center, suddenly noticing people staring at our group. _Why?_

At the Center...

"Aldor? How long has it been?" The Nurse said in a happy tone. She had a light brown nurse outfit with a white cap.

"I don't know, but it's good to see you, Nurse Taylor" Aldor said with a smile. "She needs her dragons to refuel their shots and rest up." He said, pointing to me.

"Of course, I'm always here to help," she said with a sweet smile. I gave my two draco-balls to her while Eye-shine jumped onto the tray happily. Nurse Taylor then took it away.

"It sounded like she knew you," I looked at him.

"Well, let's just say I've been here before." Aldor scratched the back of his head.

"You've been acting so strange, are you sick?" I asked.

"Ha, ha, no," he laughed at the joke, only it wasn't a joke.

"Whatever," I pushed aside the subject. A bell sounded and Nurse Taylor walked into the room.

"Your dragons are refueled and feeling much better," she said with a smile, Eye-shine jumped onto my shoulder.

"Thanks, Nurse Taylor," I took the draco-balls from the tray and stuck them to the helm of my jeans.

"Let's go, I have a battle to win!" I said determinedly.

"A battle? You're not talking about a Gym battle, are you?" Nurse Taylor asked.

"Well, yeah, only reason why I'm here," I simply said, only then realising that it was a little rude.

"Colbert hasn't battled for days. He's so depressed, his son ran away about a month ago and he hasn't been the same since," she said sadly.

"That's too bad," Jasmine said quietly.

"Yeah, I think we need to find another Gym Leader," Aldor suggested, giving a quick glance at Nurse Taylor.

"But I have to battle him! Didn't you say he was really strong! Well, I want to get strong too! But in order to do that I have to battle strong Gym Leaders and trainers!" I protested.

"You can't force a Gym Leader to battle when they don't want to battle." Aldor advised.

"Well, I'm going to make him." Then I stomped off.

"How stubborn can you get?" Aldor wondered out loud.

"It's called 'determination'!" I shouted back at him as I walked past the Dragon Center doors.

"Ugh, I guess we have no choice but to follow her," Aldor sighed, placing his hands on his hips.

"I guess," Jasmine echoed before she ran after me.

After getting some directions, we were finally at the Gym. It was pretty large, stone pillars were on either side of us as we walked on the sidewalk. The building itself looked like it was made from stone too. Except for the wooden door.

"Uh, you know what, I just remembered that we're low on supplies. I need to get medicine and food." Aldor said nervously.

"Can't it wait until after the battle?" I asked him.

"Well, I better do it now while I still remember, but now than later." He said. Jasmine and I looked at each other.

"Okay, meet us at the Center when you're done, I'll have a second badge to show ya." I said before I continued to walk towards the building. Jasmine silently followed me as we walked onto the stone steps.

I knocked on the wooden door. "Hello? Anyone in there?" I shouted at the door.

"Maybe they're out?" Jasmine suggested, shrugging her shoulders.

"You would think," I knocked on the door again, "hello?" I asked followed by Eye-shine screeching at the door. I knocked on the door again, for it to only open just slightly. I looked at Jasmine and she shrugged, I could tell she was getting a little scared too. "Hello?" I softly pushed the door open, it creaked eerily as it opened to a dark room. Eye-shine yelped as it jumped onto my shoulder and hid behind me.

"Do you have anything to light the way? It's looks spooky," Jasmine crouched behind me, peeking over my shoulder.

"And how old are you?" I asked sarcastically. She made a loud gulp. "I may have something in my bag," I pulled off my backpack, unzipped it, and dug into it. Successfully finding a small handheld flashlight. Mom put some AAA batteries into it too. I clicked it and a bright circle of light gleamed from it.

"What if there's something spooky in there, like ghosts?" Jasmine quivered.

"I don't believe in ghost stories," then I stepped into the room.

"Wait up!" Jasmine quickly caught up to me, crouching behind me, peeking over my shoulders nervously. I rolled my eyes.

I slowly waved the flashlight around, observing my surroundings with the tiny light. I saw a desk with a small palm tree with spiky green leaves. We walked on smooth tiled floor, our shoes made an echoing "click" sound every time we stepped. There was a picture with a man and a boy standing together. They looked happy, I wonder if that was the boy who ran away. And the man must be Colbert the Gym Leader. We continued to walk, heading for a large hall with gleaming trophies in trophy boxes.

"That's a lot of rewards," I commented as I looked at each one. "Best Gym Leader", "Best Teacher". Even a "Greatest Dad"? There were countless more I wish I could read, but we were looking for the Gym Leader and/or a light switch.

"I can't find the lightswitch," Jasmine whimpered.

"How can you? You're glued to my back," I said sarcastically, shaking my head.

"I just can!" She then said.

"Ugh, Eye-shine, get a look around, see if you can find anyway to turn on the lights," I softly said. Eye-shine growled before it took flight, circling around the large room. It came back with a disappointed groan. "Thanks Eye-shine," I told it. "We're just going to have to continue forward." I realized.

Slowly, I continued to walk down the hall until I came to another door, it had a metal bar you can push to open it. I leaned against it, nothing happened.

"Maybe if we pushed together?" Jasmine said as she stood beside me.

"Sure," I took my place with her on my right as we got ready to push.

"1, 2, 3!" Jasmine said before we heavily pushed, putting our weight into it. Even Eye-shine joined in. We grunted as continued to push, it wouldn't budge.

"It's... not... budging... WOAH!" I suddenly fell over as the door abruptly opened with a click. The flashlight smacked onto the ground, forcing the light to go out, before it rolled off.

"Are you okay?" Jasmine asked, _how come she didn't fall over?_

"Ow," I replied muffley before I moved my arms so I could prop myself up. "That wasn't fun," I groaned painfully.

"I'm sure it wasn't," Jasmine said as a matter of fact. Grumbling, I got up and brush off my jeans and shirt. Eye-shine looked up at me worryingly.

"I'm fine, Eye-shine. where's my flashlight?" I looked around.

"There it is," Jasmine pointed to the small shiny cylinder looking thing close by. Walking to it, I grabbed it and flicked the switch, nothing happened.

"Oh, no, this is not a good time," I continued to flick the switch, little bits of light flickered but other than that it remained dark. "Come on, come on, stupid thing," I started to tap it against my palm agitatedly.

"Uh, Ashley?" Jasmine slowly backed away from me. Eye-shine also backed away, its scales turned pale with fear.

"Almost there," I tapped on it some more until finally the light gleamed, almost blinding me. Then there was a low growl behind me, very spooky, and very dark. I slowly turned around to face a giant face with a large overbite of teeth. Milky white eyes stared at me creepily. The large dragon breathed on me, blowing my hair a little bit. I shrieked, jumping back frighteningly. "Whispering Death!" I couldn't find my voice, remembering my last encounter with a Whispering Death, I wasn't really looking forward to another one. Jasmine trembled behind me. Eye-shine hissed at the large dragon, spreading its wings defensively. The Whispering Death hissed, opening its mouth to show its six rows of rotating teeth. Me and Jasmine both screamed before we started to run away, I started to run but I was then grabbed abruptly by its snake-like tail. It wrapped its tail around me then it peered down at me, opening its mouth as if it was about to swallow me. I closed my eyes and braced myself but it never came. Uncertainly, I opened my eyes to see the Whispering Death just smile at me- it wasn't built for smiling so it look kind of awkward. I just noticed that it wasn't even gripping me that tightly, just room enough that its spikes wouldn't hurt me and I could move freely.

Surprisingly, it purred then it started to nudge me, gently and in a way its chin spikes -or teeth- wouldn't hurt me.

"Hey! That tickles!" I laughed, I rubbed my hand on its red horn, it felt smooth one way and rough the other way like scales.

"Ashley? Are you okay?" Jasmine asked nervously.

"Yeah, it's just a lot friendlier than I expected," I giggled as it nudged me again, purring loudly. Eye-shine was still growling, its eyes were slitted untrustingly. "Calm down, Eye-shine, it seems friendly." I told it. It huffed out a puff of smoke before sitting down, keeping its eye firmly on the dragon.

"I've never heard of a friendly Whispering Death," Jasmine marveled at the dragon, slowly walking up to it, gaining confidence.

"Oh, it's friendly, alright, won't stop hugging people," a gruff male voice said behind me. I looked in the direction of the voice confusingly. "Dust-breath, let that poor girl go and come here," the voice barked. Hissing, the dragon uncoiled itself around me and slithered towards the voice. Then somebody picked up my light that was laying on the ground and handed it to me. "I believe this is yours," he held out my flashlight, I took it gratefully.

"Thanks," I said, giving a smile. I shined the light towards the tall guys' chest, trying my best to not blind him while I got a good look at him. He had a dusty looking brown short-sleeved shirt, faded jeans, and worker boots with crusted mud on it. He had a sharp pointed chin and sharp dimples, short dark brown hair was cut evenly on his head, his grey eyes gleamed and he looked about fifty years old.

"What are you doing here?" He then asked, placing his big hands on his hips. His arms rippled with muscle as well as his large chest, I could tell he worked out a lot.

"Uh, we were looking for the Gym Leader, so I could have a battle with him." I told him.

"Sorry, but I don't feel like it," the person said, "go find another Gym." He told me before turning his back.

"But, you're the Gym Leader. You're suppose to accept challenges from trainers!" I protested.

"Not anymore, the door's over there, follow the hall then keep going, you'll reach the door." He pointed to the door.

"But I want to battle you!" I shouted at Colbert.

"Get out!" He shouted angrily at me.

"Ashley, let's go," Jasmine pulled at me.

"No! I came for a badge and that's what I'm going to get!" I growled.

"You want a badge, then here you go," he tossed me a shiny metal thing, I grabbed it out of the air and looked at it. It was badge with a light brown triangle with a white hollow circle in the middle. I got angry.

"No, I want to earn my badge by battling you!" I threw the badge down on the ground. "I want to test myself and my dragons, I want to see how far we've come and how far we can go!"I gritted my teeth, holding back my temper as much as I could.

"Life is so unfair, but you get what you get and you live with it. Take the badge or walk out of here with nothing," he challenged, looking at me harshly with his grey eyes. I stared back at him.

"Ashley, just take the badge, there are other Gyms we can go to," Jasmine touched my shoulder, trying to pull me back.

"My father would say to never give up, I won't give up until I truly _earn_ my badge from you." I told the man.

"You got that right, Ashley," a voice with a slight chuckle said.

"Aldor?" I said, recognising the voice.

"Please, Dad, let her have the battle. You see she really wants to have the battle and prove herself," Aldor defended me, stepping into the light.

"'Dad'?" I questioned.

"Aldor!" The guy suddenly hugged Aldor really tightly, nearly squeezing the breath out of him.

"Dad! Too tight!" Aldor gasped.

"Oh, sorry," he let go, Aldor coughed, getting his wind back. "Where have you been? Why did you run away? I was so worried!" The man brought himself to eye level with Aldor and gripped his shoulders tightly.

"I've been traveling! I've been on my own journey." Aldor said, defending myself.

"You could have told me!" His father was panicking.

"Would you have let me?" Aldor snapped.

"You are so grounded," Colbert then threatened.

"You can't keep me from my dream!" Aldor snapped. _Aldor's dream of being the best Mystery Class trainer, now it makes sense on why he didn't want to go to this town._

"Who's going to run the Gym when I'm gone?!" His dad then shouted.

"I knew it was a bad idea to even come back, I thought you've changed," Aldor shook his head before angrily walking away.

"Aldor!" I ran after him with Jasmine right behind me.

* * *

At the Cafeteria in the Center, it was already night as we waited for Aldor to tell us the whole story.

"Yes, I'm the son of a Gym Leader, but, I don't have the same intentions as him." Aldor said.

"Why?" Jasmine asked before sipping her strawberry milkshake.

"He's a great Dad and all, but he wants me to become a Gym Leader just like him. But I don't want too. I want to be a Mystery Class trainer without having the difficulties of a Gym Leader. And he doesn't understand." Aldor explained.

"Is that why you ran away?" I asked next.

"Yeah, it was the only way for me to accomplish my dreams in my head. I was going to return in time, but, not until I was ready to face him and tell him the truth. I've tried so many times to tell him, but, he just doesn't listen. I figured that, now I have friends, I could face him, but, I don't know," Aldor looked distressed, he needed somebody beside him to give him comfort.

"Why didn't you just tell us?" I asked him.

"Because I was afraid, that, you would think me as a traitor." He admitted. I understood, but I would never think like that.

"You could have told us, we would have supported you," I told him. Aldor looked down before he started to dig into his large backpack for something.

"This was us about five years ago," he showed us the picture of him and Colbert together, smiling happily.

"What change?" Jasmine asked.

"The day I was preparing for my own journey, he said that to be a great Gym Leader is that you have to learn at home. You can't travel until you've mastered the art of a Gym Leader." Aldor said.

"So why not tell him how you feel now?" I asked him.

"You may not think it, but I'm scared of what he'll think." Aldor put the picture back.

"You never know until you try," I told him firmly. He shook his head, his depressed attitude was really getting me angry. I would have gone for it, but, that was me. Aldor was a totally different person who would do things his own way. Then I got an idea. Without speaking to anybody, I got up and walked away from our table with only Eye-shine on my shoulder. At the back the Center, on the battlefield, I grabbed my two draco-balls and tossed them into the air.

"Guys, I need your help!" The draco-balls opened to let Sandstorm and Ghostwing out. "Everyone, Aldor is having a hard time, he doesn't have enough confidence in him to tell his father what he wants to be. Well, we're going to help him." I told them determinedly, balling my fist tightly. My bracelet that Jasmine had given me caught my eye. It was a symbol of our friendship. "We have to help." I looked at my dragons.

* * *

By next morning, I walked boldly into the Gym with confidence in my step. As I expected, he was on the battlefield with the lights on. It was definitely different with the lights on than in the dark.

"I challenge you to a battle!" I stepped into the trainer's box.

"What? For a badge?" Colbert scoffed.

"No, for a friend, I want you to battle me so Aldor can live his dream as a Mystery Class trainer!" I told him, balling my fists tightly.

"What happens if you lose?" He questioned.

"Uh," in truth, I hadn't really thought of it.

"How about you return home and stay there until the Dragon League is over," he bargained.

"Don't do it Ashley!" Aldor ran into the Gym with Jasmine right behind him. They woke up, guess they really noticed I was gone.

"Do we have a deal?" He asked. _Dragon League is my only chance of being a Dragon Master and it was almost a year away,_ I hesitated, _but it's not worth a friend._

"It's a deal, if I win, Aldor can be free to live his own dream, and if I lose, I'll go back home." Eye-shine growled worryingly, looking at me.

"This will be a two on two battle, winner takes all. And you're the only one who can substitute dragons." He grabbed a draco-ball from his belt and enlarged it. "Come on, Rock-breaker, let's win this battle. I choose you!" He threw the draco-ball into the air and a brown colored Gronckle came out with a loud and deep roar. I took my stretchy bracelet off of my wrist, grabbed my hair and wrapped the bracelet around my hair to make a pony-tail.

"It's on, Ghostwing, I choose you!" I threw my draco-ball to let out my white Deadly Nadder. The Nadder roared ferociously, raising its wings.

"Is Ashley really doing this?" Jasmine asked worriedly as she and Aldor walked towards the stands.

"My only worry is that she makes it." Aldor looked at the battlefield, his father and his friend were battling for him.

"You get the first move," he said to me.

"And I'll take it. Ghostwing, Magnesium Blast!" I commanded forcefully.


	15. The Deciding Battle

"Ghostwing, Magnesium Blast!" I commanded forcefully.

"Rock-breaker, time to Rollout!" Colbert ordered. His brown colored Gronckle roared deeply before turning head over tail to start spinning rapidly in place. As soon as Magnesium Blast struck, it just glanced off of the rolling Gronckle with no damage.

"What?" I was shocked, _I expected a Gronckle to be slow, but, to defend against a strong attack like Magnesium Blast?_

"They don't call me the "Master of Defense" for nothing, makes you think of backing out." Colbert boasted. _Because of its roundish body, it was able able to roll, but I doubt it will be able attack in the air._

"We just got started. Ghostwing, take flight!" I commanded. Raising his wings, Ghostwing took to the air in a heartbeat, rising into the air and out of reach of the rolling Gronckle.

"Pfft, please, you think height will save you? Well here's a surprise!" Colbert simply stated. There was a boom, a cloud of dust erupted, then in a flash, Ghostwing was abruptly knocked out of the sky and he crashed into the ground with a cringing bang.

"Ghostwing!" I shouted to him.

"How'd you like the surprise?" Colbert teased. The dust cleared for me to see his Gronckle unrolled, just looking with slitted eyes.

Ghostwing got up and shook it off like a good sport before he looked angrily at the Gronckle.

"Cool off, Ghostwing, hang in there until I can get a plan," I told it. It looked at me, _he was trusting me, I can't fail him._ I looked at Aldor, worry expressed his face clearly and I knew why, _I can't fail him either._

"Alright Rock-breaker, Rollout and attack!" Colbert commanded, thrusting his right fist outward, like he was punching the air.

"Get to the air to dodge it!" I shouted as the Gronckle started to thunderously roll towards Ghostwing. Ghostwing took flight, flying over the Gronckle just in time to avoid it. But it suddenly startled me as the Gronckle pushed itself into the air with its tail before clashing right into Ghostwing. Ghostwing screeched as it crashed into the ground again, a dust cloud covered the area. "Not again," I gritted my teeth, sweat dripped down my face. _We have to get past that roll, we have to stop it somehow._

I looked at the ground, the bulldozing Gronckle was mowing through the field. Even with the large rocks dotting through the field, that Gronckle was plowing through it like it was nothing. But, I noticed something every time it clashed into a rock. _Okay, Ghostwing can't fly or he will be knocked out of the sky. Ghostwing can't stay on the ground either._ Then I remembered something. Back when I was battling Lyz, her Nadder pinned Eye-shine to where it couldn't move. _Trap it and it won't move._

"I'm waiting," Colbert said.

"Right, Ghostwing, follow me on this, okay?" I asked. It had just gotten up and it was shaking dust off of itself. It growled an affirmative. "Okay, Spine Shot into the ground!" I ordered. Ghostwing spiked his tail with a " _click_ " before launching his deadly spikes into the ground.

"What good will that do?" He asked skeptically.

"Ugh, you're worse than Aldor, always thinking skeptically of me," I told him.

"Why would you even do this for him? He's just a boy, he's not even your friend." Colbert pointed out.

"Yes he is, and I owe him for something he did for me. You can do a lot on a journey, even make good friends along the way and learn lessons too. So, why would you keep him from doing that?" I asked him back. "Ghostwing, Spine Shot!" I commanded. Ghostwing reacted by launching his spines at the ground again and again. He was covering the field with spikes, just like I wanted.

"Rock-breaker, roll and attack!" Colbert commanded. His Gronckle suddenly sped towards Ghostwing, mowing through the spikes and forming a dust cloud behind it.

"It's not enough, Ghostwing, dodge the best you can! We need more time!" I told it. Growling, it took flight, causing dust to poof on the ground. Just as I expected, the Gronckle jumped towards Ghostwing. "On your right!" I warned it. At the last second, Ghostwing rolled out of the way in time for it to only whiz past him. The rolling Gronckle smacked into the wall before continuing to roll back into the battlefield thunderously. The wall took damage, large cracks were what was left of the impact. "Ghostwing, continue with Spine Shot, we have to get it perfect!" I told it.

"Why is Ashley using Spine Shot on the field? She should be attacking it, right?" Jasmine asked Aldor in the stands.

"Her attacks would just glance off of the Rollout. But I believe she has another plan in mind. Hmph, she actually listened when I told her that attacking head first won't always work. She's using her dragons' moves to their best, but let's see what she's planning." Aldor said.

"You know, she used her bracelet to tie her hair up. I think she really means what she says." Jasmine commented.

"You gave her it," Aldor said.

"But it was meant for the both of you, she's really made it a part of her now." Jasmine said, crossing her arms. Aldor looked at Ashley, with her fearless stance, she was ready for more. _Maybe._

"Great, keep up that Spine Shot!" I encouraged, the entire field was being covered in white spikes, _now we have to wait._

"What you're doing is a mystery to me, but I assure you, it won't stop us! Rollout!" He commanded fiercely. His Gronckle suddenly bulldozed through the garden of spikes, but I noticed something different.

"You ready, Ghostwing?" I asked him, he growled, raising his wings, preparing. "Not yet," I told him, I watched to rolling Gronckle, then it happened. "Now! Use your tail and send _it_ flying!" I swiftly commanded. Ghostwing roared as it used its unspiked tail as a powerful bat and whacked the Gronckle up into the air.

"What?" Colbert was shocked, his Rollout was used against him.

"Hm, you see, every time your Gronckle hits an obstacle, it loses its balance for a second." I told him. The rolling Gronckle wobbled before it forcefully uncurled. "Trapped. Use Magnesium Blast rapid fire!" I commanded, Ghostwing leaped into action, blasting the vulnerable Gronckle in the belly. The Gronckle screeched, clawing at the air. He launched another Magnesium Blast into the Gronckle's back.

"Use your wings! Get a grip!" Colbert commanded. His Gronckle opened its tiny wings, making them flap vigorously.

"It's still slow, Magnesium Blast, once more!" I commanded. Ghostwing growled as he spewed out his sparking fire towards the Gronckle's face.

"Lava Blast!" In a flash, the Lava Blast countered the Magnesium Blast, spews of fire and lava rained towards the ground. The Lava Blast protected the Gronckle from a fatal Magnesium Blast.

"We still have a defense, and to consider we have more fire shots than you, we're at an advantage." he boasted.

"Shots don't matter, when you use all of your dragon's potential. Ghostwing, Spine Shot!" I commanded. Ghostwing unspiked his tail and launched his spikes towards the Gronckle.

"Lava Blast!" His Gronckle launched its shot, stopping the spines short.

"Follow it up by Magnesium Blast!" The Lava Blast got rid of the spines but it wasn't enough to stop Magnesium Blast. It made a direct hit, causing the Gronckle to stumble in flight.

"Smart, you surprised me." Colbert admitted.

"I learned that from Aldor, I used my dragons' abilities to their fullest to throw your defense off." I told him.

"Unbelievable," Colbert was in shock.

"Now to finish this up, Ghostwing, one last Magnesium Blast!" Ghostwing roared loudly before spewing out its sparking fire, clashing into the Gronckle and sending it crashing to the ground. Dust covered the area upon impact, but it settled enough for us to see Rock-breaker had fainted.

"Rock-breaker is unable to battle," Colbert sighed in dismay before he got his draco-ball out. "Return, Rock-breaker," his Gronckle was zapped back into the ball, "thanks a lot, you battled hard, you deserve a good rest." He said to his Gronckle before putting the draco-ball away.

"Ghostwing, that was great! You gave your all!" I congratulated my dragon, but I was noticing the he wasn't looking too good. The battle wiped him out. "But I think it's time for you to take a break," I told it. Stubbornly, it growled, it was still wanting to battle. "Are you sure?" I asked it. It looked at me, there was fire in his eyes, he was going to prove he can win any battle. "Alright," I said uncertainly.

"That was a great plan, you kept your cool and you found a way to throw off my defense. Normal beginner trainers would just give up and see it as impossible." Colbert chuckled humorously.

"As my Dad would say, "nothing's impossible until you actually do it". And he was right," I told him.

"That actually sounds familiar," Colbert looked at me, "never mind that, I got a battle to win. Here comes my second dragon. Dust-breath, I choose you!" He threw a draco-ball into the air to let his Whispering Death out. In the daylight, I could see that his snake-like body could take up the whole battlefield if it stretched. Its black body had grey speckles dotting it and it had a pale belly. Its milky white eyes were as creepy as ever and its teeth were just as sharp. "Dust-breath might have been friendly to you before, but you'll that it has a change in personality when in battle." Colbert said.

"I better scan so I can be extra sure." I dug out my dragon-dext and pointed it at the dragon.

 _"Whispering Death, the tunneling dragon and part of the Boulder Class of dragons. This dragon has six rows of rotating teeth inside its mouth that are able to chew through rocks, tree roots, and soil. It also has a reputation of being the scariest dragon in the world. Making its home in the earth, this dragon hunts its prey from below but because of its poor eye-sight, they have to rely on their other four senses. When you hear whispering sounds... run,"_ Dexter replied.

"Now I just don't agree with that. Whispering Death's are not scary, just misunderstood." Colbert said.

"Hey, I didn't write the dragon-dext," I put the device away and faced my opponent. "You ready?" I challenged.

"Always, please, you may have the first move." He said, _he was doing it again._

"Spine Shot!" I commanded, Ghostwing unspiked his tail but I noticed his movements were a little sluggish, he was really pulling himself past the line. He launched the spikes at the Whispering Death.

"Dodge!" Colbert commanded. Gracefully, the dragon took flight and snaked past the spikes, its body twisting with it. The spikes missed their target completely.

"Fire Ring!" Colbert commanded.

"Magnesium Blast!" I reacted. Both dragons prepared to launch their attacks, only I didn't catch it until the last second, _Ghostwing used all of his shots!_ Ghostwing's mouth glowed but then it coughed up sparks, it was totally out of shots. The Whispering Death breathed before launching its deadly ringed fire at my unprepared Nadder.

The attack hit, causing a boom to crack through the air and dust to fly. As the dust cleared, Ghostwing was on the ground; fainted.

"Your Deadly Nadder is unable to battle," Colbert announced.

"You battled well, Ghostwing, you deserve a good rest," I said as I called it back into its draco-ball. _Now what? Maybe if I use Sandstorm, I can rely on its defense and its bulkiness. But if that Whispering Death gets a hold of it, it might be hard to fight. So, it's better to go small and rely on maneuverability._ "Eye-shine, time to get in there, I choose you!" Eye-shine immediately got in there, hissing loudly.

"What? Why Eye-shine? It's so small, one hit and its out." Jasmine said worriedly.

"You see, Whispering Death's have a snake-like body, though it is very deadly, it can also become slow because of it. Wherever the head goes, the body has to follow, and though it can be a useful tool, it can become a nuisance at times." Aldor explained. "I think she was betting on Eye-shines' size to get through it all."

"Ready?" Colbert asked.

"You bet!"

"Alright, Dust-breath, use dig!" Colbert commanded. His Whispering Death hissed before suddenly burrowing into the ground, leaving a giant hole in the field.

"Where is it?" I scanned the field for any signs that could hint its position. "Do you see anything?" I asked Eye-shine. It growled meanly as it looked all over the field.

"Now, Dust-breath!" Colbert shouted. Just then, a dirt mound suddenly started to snake towards Eye-shine quickly.

"Take flight, Eye-shine!" I reacted as the dirt mound got even closer. Eye-shine got into the air as quickly as it could but it was too late.

A roar sounded before the Whispering Death jumped from underneath the ground and knocked Eye-shine forcefully out of the air. When it crashed, it made me cringe.

"Are you alright?" I asked it, it gave a quick affirmative grunt before shaking dirt off of itself. _Gotta be careful, that hit nearly took it out. But we need to get close._ "Alright, fly up to it." I commanded. With a growl, Eye-shine took flight and zoomed towards the Whispering Death.

"Tail Whip! Swat it out of the air!" Colbert growled.

"Pretend that you are in a forest and you're dodging through moving trees like before! Slide your way past it!" I told it. It felt like time had slowed as the Whispering Death whipped its tail around to hit my dragon, only Eye-shine cleverly rolled out of the way and got closer to the dragon. "Flamethrower!" I commanded. Eye-shine took a deep breath and unleashed a large spout of flame towards the belly of the dragon. The Whispering Death screeched as it coiled in pain.

"Quick, use Dig!" Colbert shouted. The Whispering Death quickly retreated into the ground, making the ground vibrate.

"Don't let it recover! Flamethrower into the hole, give it all you've got!" I shouted, my teeth on edge. Upon command, Eye-shine took a deep breath and forced out its biggest flamethrower yet, shooting straight into the hole. The second hole nearby poofed with flames followed by a spooked Whispering Death. "Now, another Flamethrower!" I directed towards the dragon. Eye-shine responded like lightning, launching a third Flamethrower at the Whispering Death's head. The dragon screeched before crashing forcefully into the ground.

"Dust-breath, are you okay?" Colbert asked as his dragon struggled to get up. Shaking it off, it screeched at our direction.

"It's mad, the battle's just beginning now. We've gotta keep it up," I told Eye-shine. It took a deep breath, smoke puffed out of its nostrils hotly.

"Our turn, grab it with your tail!" Colbert commanded. His Whispering Death hissed before taking flight and threatened to wrap Eye-shine with its snake-like tail.

"Dodge it!" Because of Eye-shine's small size, it was able to easily dodge pass the tail, but I didn't catch it until it was too late.

"Gotcha," just then, the Whispering Death charge into Eye-shine with its large head, knocking poor Eye-shine away. The Tail Whip was just a distraction so that the Whispering Death could lay a nasty hit with its head.

"Eye-shine!" It rolled across the ground, groaning weakly. It stayed in that same position, and that scared me. "Eye-shine?" It looked at me, growling softly. _That hit was bad, it has taken a lot of damage._ I looked at the Whispering Death, it was panting too, it was getting worn out. "Eye-shine, get up, please, I know you can do it!" I encouraged it. Growling, it shakily placed a paw under itself and raised itself slowly. It was putting effort into it, but it couldn't take anymore.

"Oh, poor Eye-shine, it can barely stand up," Jasmine clasped her hands together worriedly. Aldor just looked at the field, eyes both on Ashley and his Dad.

Eye-shine gasped as it finally got up, but it had to use its wings as an extra support. "You okay?" I asked, it chirped confidently.

"You know, there's no shame in giving up if it's for the sake of your dragon." Colbert said, crossing his arms. Eye-shine hissed, raising its wings defiantly.

"If Eye-shine wants to continue battling, then that's alright with me," I told him. "Let's send him the message, Flamethrower!" Without taking flight, Eye-shine breathed and then blasted it hot Flamethrower in the direction of the Whispering Death.

"Dodge it!" But the Whispering Death had grown sluggish and the shot made a direct hit. The Whispering Death fell backwards from the hit. "Come on, get up!" Colbert barked.

Groaning, it faced Eye-shine, baring its teeth at it. Now the Whispering Death can't take another hit, it was looking tired and weak.

"This is it, make this count, Eye-shine!" I told it. It took a strong stance, getting ready for what was coming next.

"This will decide it." Colbert agreed.

"Flamethrower!"

"Fire Ring!" We both said our commands at the same time. Quickly, the dragons reacted, both taking a deep breath before releasing their fiery shots. The shots connected in the middle of the field with a boom. Heat pulsed from the shots as fire vs. fire combated each other.

"Hang in there, Eye-shine!" I encouraged.

"Keep it up, Dust-breath!" Colbert also encouraged. It didn't seem like neither of the sides would let up, until, a boom echoed through the air as the blasts mixed and created an explosive repercussion. Smoke filled the field and waves of heat blasted, almost knocking me over.

Finally, the smoke cleared, showing the two dragons at a still standoff. Both dragons stared at each other with daring eyes. Until.

"Eye-shine," I caught my dragon as it collapsed, kneeling beside it. It growled apologetically. "You were great, you earned a good rest," I stroked the back of my Terror softly.

I looked at Colbert, who was stroking his Whispering Death in a job well done before returning it into its draco-ball. Aldor and Jasmine walked up to me, I got up, carrying Eye-shine in my arms. I looked at Aldor.

"I'm sorry, I thought I could do it," I said before looking down.

"Don't worry about it, you gave it your best shot." He placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"That was a great battle, Ashley, most fun I've had in a long time." He stuck out his hand, intending me to shake it. I shook it.

"But I lost," I let go of his hand and looked down.

"You had the guts to stand up for something even when there was a slim chance of winning. Your bond with your dragons is strong, I can see it." He said.

"Yeah, but I'll still be heading home," I said, remembering the bet.

"Nonsense, I now see that Aldor has a great friend and he loves to travel. I couldn't possibly take that away. But I do have something for you," he said before digging into his pocket. "The Wits Badge, it's yours," he presented me with the light brown triangle-shaped badge with a white hollow circle in the middle.

"But, I didn't win," I said confusedly.

"No, but you got the guts of a winner. Your actions showed me that you have more than deserved this badge." Unsurely, I took it from his hand.

Then excitement enveloped me, "Alright! Badge number two! And it's all mine!" I leaped into the air.

* * *

Later, we visited the Center close to sundown so Ghostwing and Eye-shine could rest up and heal. Nurse Taylor was very nice as always, she even let me have a free ice-cream cone for my hard won victory- even though I lost. But I didn't feel like eating ice-cream, so I passed it onto Jasmine, who took it happily.

"Hey, where's Aldor?" Jasmine asked before she continued to lick her vanilla ice-cream cone.

"Catching up with his dad, I guess." I said looking out the window. Him and his dad were on the steps outside, talking. Afterward, Aldor gave his father a big hug, he was starting cry a little bit. It pained me to see this sight, it reminded me of my father, right before he went to the mine. I tried my best to make him stay home for the day, but, I guess I didn't try hard enough.

After wiping his tears, Aldor started to walk towards the Dragon Center, waving a last good-bye to his father before coming inside.

"Hey, Ashley," he greeted, "what's wrong?" He asked in concern.

"Oh, just a flashback, nothing to worry about." I chuckled, giving a little smile. "So, how are you two doing?" I asked him.

"He's starting to understand, but he'll let me continue my journey from now on. I never got to say thank you," he said to me.

"It was no big deal, I was just helping out." I shrugged.

"Hey, Ashley! Your dragons' are back!" Jasmine called to me from the counter.

"I'm happy to report that both of your dragons are feeling much better," Nurse Taylor said with a smile as I walked towards the counter.

"Thanks," I put Ghostwing's draco-ball away while Eye-shine jumped onto my shoulder happily. "How about some dinner? I'm starving!" I said, clenching my grumbling stomach.

"Yeah, me too, that battle was exhilarating, it took up all of my energy just watching it," Jasmine said with a happy giggle.

"Okay, dinner's on me," Aldor said. "Race ya!" Then he suddenly bolted to the cafeteria.

"Hey, no fair! You got a head start!" I called back to him as I followed him. We all laughed excitedly as we raced towards the cafeteria.


	16. Monstrous Uh Oh!

"Alright! Lightville Town, here we come!" I leaped with joy and excitement as we left the Dragon Center the next morning.

Lightville was the next town to have a Gym, only, it was miles away. So we will have to camp for a few nights before we ever reach there. But that's no big deal, maybe I'll catch another dragon.

"Ooh, I love the forest!" Jasmine twirled happily before stopping abruptly, looking a little embarrassed.

"Me too, the fresh air just makes you feel so free," Aldor took a deep breath before exhaling loudly. "And there's also a lake up ahead, it's said to be the best place to catch Tidal Class dragons." Aldor informed.

"Maybe that's where I'll catch my next dragon," I said, clenching my fists tightly.

"Maybe," Aldor shrugged.

"So where is it?" I asked him.

"Um, I think the map said it was over that hill," Aldor pointed to the upcoming hill, looks like we won't be there until noon.

"Great, let's step it up!" I bounded towards the hill until I heard a familiar, sarcastic, chuckle.

"Same old Lame-o Aldez." A snide voice said with a humorous chuckle.

"I'm not lame!" I angrily looked back to see Samantha leaning against a tree with her arms crossed. Her hair was tied in a pony-tail, as usual, and she was as beautiful as ever. She hasn't changed one bit. She was still wearing her light pink shirt with blue designs decorating it, and her skinny blue jeans.

"Of course you're not, you're just a runt, always coming in second," she said humorously. Anger flared in me like a volcano about to erupt.

Aldor and Jasmine just looked at both of us, sort of understanding what was happening.

"And are these your lame friends too? Hmph, or otherwise, just babysitters for you," she looked at the both of them, only, she was sort of looking at Aldor kind of funny.

"The only lame one here is you, Samantha," I gritted my teeth, biting my anger to keep it in control.

"Now I remember, you told me that Samantha was your rival," Aldor said, finally getting the point.

"Oh, so you told them about me? How nice," she walked towards Aldor like a cat stalking prey.

"What are you doing here, Samantha?" I asked her hotly.

"Hmph, I'm going to the same place you are, so I can catch more dragons," she said. "How many dragons Do you have?" She asked, looking at me.

"Uh, three," I told her obviously.

"Huh, well, I got five," she said with a snickering smile, "you're already losing the battle."

"Yeah? Well, I got two Gym badges with those dragons!" I said, defending my dragons and my pride.

"Really? Including the Terrible Terror?" She asked, clearing not believing it.

"It's name is Eye-shine!" I face her, Eye-shine growled, eyes slitted.

"Pfft, switch it for another dragon, it's so weak." She said, placing her hands on her hips.

"You know that as well as I do that any dragon can be strong with the right training!" I growled.

"Uh, how about you guys just drop it from here, it's not going anywhere, and even it does, it's not going to help anybody." Aldor stepped between us.

"Hmph," I crossed my arms before angrily stomping away.

"I might as well tag along since we are going to the same place!" She said noticeably loud. I growled, _I hate her_.

* * *

Well, we finally made it, only, I thought it would be filled with dragons. There was a large lake, almost as big as a football field, in the middle of a large clearing and there was a small shack up ahead. Only, the place looked barren, like, nothing was even around.

I cupped my hands over my mouth and shouted, "Hello!" It echoed through the air, and there was no response.

"Smooth," Samantha said accusingly. "Now any dragons that are here will be scared off," she huffed.

"I don't think they would be scared of a simple shout," I growled. "Especially if they are gigantic."

"You never know, they could be scared of lame-o's like you," she chuckled. I growled.

"No, but I think that there is something wrong," Aldor stepped up. "Let's check the shack." He said before starting to walk towards the square looking building on the other side of the clearing.

"Not sure that's a good idea, but, okay," I shrugged before I followed him with Jasmine beside me, who was looking stiffer than a board. _Right, she's shy, she wouldn't talk to anybody until she got to know them._

As we came towards it, we got a better look at it. It was basically a square- yet sturdy- looking shack with a metal roof. There was a small window, though, you could barely see through it because it was so dirty.

"Do you think someone abandoned it?" Jasmine asked, observing the old looking shack.

"Duh," Samantha just said, Jasmine looked down, looking hurt.

"Be nice, it's enough you tease me but leave Jasmine alone," I told her.

"I didn't even know she was here," she smirked. I shook my head annoyingly.

"Hey! Kids!" A voice whispered.

"Huh?" I looked around for what caused the voice.

"Hey! Get in here before they see you!" The voice whispered again, more tensely this time.

"Ugh, is this a joke?" Samantha said, placing her hands on her hips.

"You'll think 'joke' in a minute when they start barbecuing you!" Then the shack door opened with a creak. "Get in!" A woman with dark greasy hair and green eyes said.

"Sorry, but my Mom warned me about talking to strangers already," Samantha smirked. Then there was a flash of fear in the woman's face. "Please get in, they're coming!" She pointed to the sky quickly. We all looked, only, we saw a group of dragons swarming towards us.

"What are they?" Jasmine asked.

"We can talk about that later, get in!" She suddenly grabbed my collar and yanked me in, nearly choking me. The others quickly got in just as they heard angry screeching from the distant dragons. As the swarm of dragons got closer, we finally saw what they were, they were a flock of Monstrous Nightmares- and they looked angry.

Angry cries from the dragons got closer. Once we were all in, the woman closed the door and held it tensely shut. We could hear the dragons get closer, and just like that, their cries started to fade. The woman exhaled, relieved.

"Sorry for the start," she said in an accent. She had worn blue overalls with a green T-shirt under it. She also had dusty blue jeans and thick work shoes.

"What was with those dragons?" Samantha said, crossing her arms.

"Well, it's a long, long, story," the woman said, scratching the back of her head timidly.

"Well, make it short, I got Tidal Class dragons to catch!" Samantha said huffily.

"There are no Tidal Class dragons," the woman said.

"Yeah, those dragons done run them off," an older voice said behind us. An old man, with a bushy beard, and grey eyes, stepped out of the shadows.

"Now who are you?" Samantha asked hotly.

"Name's Tommy, that's Sheila, we've been hiding here for a couple days now. Those Monstrous Nightmare's just won't leave us alone and we don't know why. They just suddenly came in one day and started blasting out all of the dragons and people away from the lake. We were left behind, but every time we try to leave, they come charging in, but they never shot at the shack." Tommy the Old Guy said.

"That's strange, dragons don't attack unless they were provoked," Aldor said quizzically.

"Well, they're Monstrous Nightmares, they're known for being aggressive," Samantha said.

"It just doesn't make sense." Aldor shook his head.

"Does that mean we're stuck here? Forever?!" Samantha nearly panicked.

"Ugh, what's worse? Getting roasted by the Monstrous Nightmares? Or being stuck in here with you?" I said, crossing my arms.

"Hmph, you're just jealous," she looked away sharply.

"If anything, you're jealous of me!" I looked sharply away from her.

"Will you two stop? Your arguing is not helping," Aldor stepped up.

"Hmph!" We both went huffily. Aldor sighed in defeat.

"W-what are we going to do?" Jasmine said quietly.

"Well, we don't really know, we've tried just about everything," Sheila said.

"Have you ever considered why they were attacking the place? Do you remember anything that could have set them on a rage?" Aldor asked the two people.

"No, we have no clue, I went to the forest and came back, a minute later, they started attacking." Sheila shrugged.

"Hm..." Aldor thought for a moment.

"Um, I've heard that dragons, especially Monstrous Nightmares, sometimes attack to claim a territory. Maybe they're being territorial?" Jasmine suggested.

"Even so, Monstrous Nightmare's never come close to Tidal Class territory, mostly because Tidal Class have a major advantage over them. The dragons are stubborn, but they wouldn't fight each other over something like territory. They always had peace together. But, because of the forced attacks, the Tidal Class dragons had no choice but to move away." Sheila explained.

"Something must be causing them to attack," Aldor started to pace.

"Ugh, this is probably the worst day ever," I said glumly. "It's worse than the day the Nadder kept attacking me." I grumbled.

"That's it! The Nadder was agitated because it was struck by dragon root. Maybe it's the same thing." Aldor realized.

"Only, the Nadder attacked everything, even buildings. The Monstrous Nightmare's aren't attacking this shack yet." I told him.

"That's right," he realized again.

"This is boring," Samantha just said.

"Go outside then, I'm sure you'll have fun dodging fire blasts, and I'm sure to have fun watching." I said with a giggle.

"How about _you_ go outside?!" Samantha and me went head on. Aldor sighed annoyingly.

"What is you guy's problem?" Sheila asked.

Samantha and I looked at each other before abruptly looking away, "We're rivals," I said huffily.

"We don't get along well," Samantha said.

"I can see that, but can you at least stop fighting for a second?" Sheila said.

We looked at each other again then looked away, "No," we both said.

"What happened to respect?" Tommy said.

"Never had any," Samantha said.

"I would never have respect for a bully," I told her.

"I can't help that you weren't cool enough," she just said.

"Will you two just stop?" Jasmine said.

"Yeah, you're giving me a headache," Aldor crossed his arms.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Aldor, but I can't help it when she's jealous of me," she said apologetically.

"You want to go? We'll go right here!" I challenged her, facing her.

"Enough!" Aldor pulled us apart. "We're stuck in here until we figure out why the Monstrous Nightmares keep attacking us. So, make a truce for now." He advised.

"Nah, I'd rather get roasted," I said, crossing my arms.

"Me too, unfortunately," Samantha echoed.

"Well, at least you're in an agreement." Aldor huffed.

* * *

For awhile, we've been thinking about a way to escape from the Monstrous Nightmares. They've been hiding in the tree lines, just out of sight, yet, they could see us.

"Hey! I got it! Since Monstrous Nightmares' are part of the Stoker Class, maybe another dragon from their class could talk to them, maybe Eye-shine can find out why they're being so territorial," I suggested.

"Honestly, that's the stupidest idea I've ever heard," Samantha just said boringly.

"I don't see you coming up with something better," I sarcastically said.

"Actually, that might not be a bad idea." Aldor said.

"Great! Okay, Eye-shine, you ready?" I asked it. On my shoulder, it growled determinedly.

"Oh, please, like a little Terror could go against Monstrous Nightmares," Samantha said huffily.

"We're not going against them, we're just talking to them. I know Eye-shine can do it." I scratched its chin.

"Hmph," Samantha huffed.

I opened the door slightly, "Be careful, will you?" I asked it as it perched on my arm. It gave me an assuring growl before raising its wings. "Alright, go on," it lifted off from my arm and flew outside in fast wing beats. I quickly closed the door behind it, _it was on its own, but, will it be alright?_

* * *

Eye-shine confidently flew towards the tree line, feeling the wind under its wings.

 _I can't let Ashley down, they are counting me,_ was the only thing racing in its mind as it raced for the treeline. The scent of angry Monstrous Nightmares was wafting from there strongly, but it could also sense something else, _was it worry?_

It got closer to the treeline, admittedly, it was a little nervous but it had to keep pushing on. It landed on the ground and looked through the forest, there was no sign of dragons, but it could smell them.

 _Hello?_ It called into the forest, nothing. Growling unsurely, it walked into the forest, being prepared in case it needed to take flight immediately. With quiet steps, it walked through the forest, searching for signs of dragons. It shivered even though it wasn't cold. Air suddenly brushed against it, then it caught a mysterious shadow whoosh past it before it suddenly disappeared into the forest. It had an unfamiliar scent after it, and it didn't look like any Monstrous Nightmare- too small.

 _Hey! What are you doing here?_ A deep growl erupted from behind it, hot air breathed on it. It looked up, it saw angry slitted eyes, a gigantic mouth and big, _sharp,_ teeth. Eye-shine shriveled in fright. _I said, what are you doing here?_ It growled again, more deeply this time. It had dark red scales and dark stripes, piercing, angry, yellow eyes. Horns cracked and the tips were broken in places.

 _Heh,_ Eye-shine turned itself around to face the very large dragon. Staring at its teeth, _it could swallow me whole if it wanted too,_ Eye-shine thought.

 _Well?_ It growled.

 _Uh, I was just coming here to say 'hi', you know, Stoker Class to Stoker Class,_ it chortled nervously.

 _You're just a trained Terror, you belong with the humans,_ it growled.

 _Well, yes, but I was wondering why you were attacking them?_

 _You would too, if they took something valuable from you,_ the Nightmare faced poor Eye-shine, baring its teeth hungrily.

 _What did they take? I can get it back for you,"_ Eye-shine told it.

 _We don't trust outsiders, especially if they're with humans, they have taken something us, and we will get it back. With or without force,_ he growled threateningly.

 _You don't know what you're doing, they're good humans,_ Eye-shine told it anxiously.

 _If they are good humans, then why did their species do this?_ He then showed an ugly scar over the right side of its long snout. This scared Eye-shine, angry wild dragons were dangerous dragons.

 _Just tell me what's wrong!_ It roared desperately at it.

 _Sorry, but you've spent enough time here with us,_ just then, more Monstrous Nightmares- angry ones- appeared behind it. All were baring their teeth, they were ready to attack. Just then, the Monstrous Nightmare, that was facing Eye-shine, lunged. Quickly, Eye-shine dodged, making the Monstrous Nightmare get a mouth full of dirt instead. In a second, it was in the air, fleeing for its life.

Behind it, an angry Monstrous Nightmare roared into the air before furiously coming after it. Flames suddenly coated the Nightmare's body- as it is their specialty as a defense or to just show that they're angry. Eye-shine desperately flew past the tree line, flapping its wings as hard as it could. But once the Monstrous Nightmare was out of the forest, it has a major advantage with speed.

Desperately, Eye-shine shrieked for help as the Monstrous Nightmare was gaining quickly. In a flash of heat, the Nightmare blasted its kerosene fire, hitting Eye-shine with full force. Eye-shine was suddenly knocked down, crashing into the ground. Because it was a fire attack, it didn't do much damage, but it still stung.

 _Any last words?_ It growled menacingly.

 _Ashley,_ Eye-shine growled.

 _What?_ Just then, a tiny rock boinked against its massive head and it turned to look.

"Hey! Leave my dragon alone!"

* * *

 _This is so crazy! But I'm doing it!_ "Hey! Hey! Over here! Follow me!" I waved my arms, getting its attention. "Get Eye-shine, I'll deal with this!" I called to the others. Then I bolted, running as the Monstrous Nightmare charged for me, snapping its large jaws at me. _Zigzag!_ I moved in a zigzag motion to dodge the angry bites from the Nightmare. Its snarling was louder than ever, its hot breath was on me. I knew I couldn't keep this up for much longer. I looked, they had grabbed Eye-shine and they were beckoning me to come.

The Monstrous Nightmare took a deep breath and suddenly blasted its kerosene, like, fire towards me. Quickly, I rolled then continued running towards the shack. The dragon gave chase, snapping at me as I continued to sprint. My gut was aching, my lungs hurt, I was out of breath, but I had to keep going.

"Keep going, Ashley!" Aldor encouraged.

"Yeah, keep going, and if you don't make it, well, that's fine too," Samantha said next.

"Woah!" I ducked just as a jaw full of teeth was lunging for me. Regaining my balance, I kept running, the shack was really close. "Get out of the way!" I said, immediately the bunch cleared the door. As the Nightmare's jaws loomed towards me, it was about to unleashed its kerosene fire. Instinctively, I fell back and slid into the shack like a baseball player would slide to home base. The door closed behind me, blocking the kerosene flame with a boom. There were sounds of a retreating roar and the flapping of wings growing more distant as the Nightmare left. On the floor, I sighed with relief, taking deep gulps of air.

"Are you alright?" Jasmine asked.

"Yeah," I said breathlessly. Eye-shine cooed worriedly. "No, I'm fine, just a little out of breath," I told them as I sat up.

"So? Do you know why they are attacking us?" Aldor asked. Eye-shine squawked loudly, making little hand gestures with its claws.

"Uh, you're going to have to be more clearer than that," Aldor said confusedly. Eye-shine growled before continuing to make its weird hand gestures.

"I think it's saying that somebody took something from them," I got up and brushed off my jeans. "And they're angry."

"But, we didn't take anything, we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Jasmine said.

"That's for sure," Samantha was suddenly interested in her nails.

"Wait, when I was scrounging around the forest, I found the strangest looking rock, I thought I could keep it as a souvenir." Sheila said.

"Do you still have it?" Aldor asked.

"Of course," she went to the back of the shack and dug out. If it was a rock, it was _huge_. She had to hold with two hands and she had to prop it against herself to keep from dropping it. It had a strange brown-red color that brushed the sides of the rock.

"That's no rock, that's a dragon egg!" Aldor said alarmed. Sheila shrieked, almost dropping it.

"No! Don't drop it!" Aldor helped her get it back into her hands tensely.

"Well, explains why the dragons will attack anybody but this shack. They knew it had their precious egg in it," Samantha said.

"But, now, we have to decide how to give it back to them without being burned alive," Jasmine said, her brow wrinkled as she posed the question.

"We have no choice but to face them," I said next.

"I'm afraid Ashley might be right," Aldor echoed, not ready to accept the consequence.

"So, who's going out?" Sheila asked everyone. Neither one of us was willing to rick our necks for an egg, but, we had to do it.

"I will do it," I said with confident in my voice I didn't even I had.

"Are you sure? You almost got roasted once, you really want to do it again?" Aldor asked with concern.

"Second time's the charm. Besides, if I don't do it, the Monstrous Nightmares won't get their egg back and we'll continue to be stuck in here. Someone has to do it." I told them.

"You're crazy," Samantha said, crossing her arms huffily.

"It wouldn't be the first time," I told her back, giving a little smile.

"At least have your dragons with you," Aldor advised.

"I'd rather do this without a fight, if possible," I told him. Eye-shine protested, jumping into my arms. "You need to stay here, so do these guys," I got out my two draco-balls and handed them to Aldor.

Aldor accepted them, "Are you sure?" He asked again.

"What's the worst that can happen?" I shrugged. Everybody looked at each other uneasily.

* * *

"Alright, let's get on with it," I said as courageously as I could. It was already night, a full moon was gleaming down on the world, giving the clearing a luminescent glow and making the water shimmer beautifully. With the egg firmly in my hands, I prepared to go out.

"You don't have to do this," Aldor warned.

"Then who will? I'm the only one with the guts to do so, and and those dragons are missing their egg."

"Alright, when we open this door, you're on your own." Tommy warned, I nodded, knowing that already.

"Ooh, then let me do it," Samantha said.

"Have you no remorse?" Jasmine asked.

"No, not really," Samantha gazed at her nails. But I could tell she was feeling something as she opened the door. Bravely, I stepped out of the shack, with the slam of the shack door behind me.

Taking a deep breath, I walked farther into the field. It was silent, and humid. Stars were showing along with the moon. When I decided that I was far enough from the shack I took another shaky breath.

"Monstrous Nightmares! I know you're out there! I've got your egg, and I'm returning it to you!" I gulped as a sudden chill gripped me. "Show yourselves!" I challenged. In a quick response, several Nightmares appeared in the sky and dived towards me. Fighting the urge to run, I stood my ground with the egg in hand. As the Monstrous Nightmares landed in front of me, the faced me angrily with slitted yellow eyes. The Nightmare I encountered earlier stood in front of me, it was baring its teeth angrily. It had an ugly on the right side of its face and it looked at me unforgivingly.

Then, a gentle growl pierced the tension as a smaller Monstrous Nightmare pushed through the group of Nightmares. It must have been a female one, mostly because of the size. And unlike the usual red color you would see a Monstrous Nightmare have, she had a dark color with beautiful blue designs. Her eyes were a soft honey color and she seemed nice enough, I bet if she was caught in a corner, she would have a whole different personality.

She softly growled demandingly, eyeing the egg.

"Here," I softly put the egg down on the grass and stepped back. Growling, the Monstrous Nightmare expected the egg before giving a satisfied and relieved purr. She then looked at me and gave a short nod in gratitude. Hissing, she gently picked the egg up with her jaws and carried it in her mouth. Raising her wings, she gave a heaving flap before she was suddenly in the air. Other Monstrous Nightmares followed her except one. The one with ugly scar glared at me before giving me a hissing growl- it sounded like a warning- before it took off as well.

 _I'm glad they're reunited with their egg,_ I thought before turning around to head for the shack.

* * *

"Thanks for doing all that, now the Tidal Class dragons can return safely with no trouble." Sheila said the next morning.

"It was no problem," I shrugged.

"No, it really means a lot, I wish we could repay you," Sheila said helplessly.

"Only a few trainers would risk their necks for dragons, I've only heard tales, but, now that I see you, I believe." Tommy said with a wrinkly grin.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," I said- admittedly feeling a little embarrassed.

"So, are you ready to go?" Aldor asked from behind me.

"You bet!" I said excitedly.

"Well, I'm going the other way, but I can guarantee that we'll meet again soon," Samantha said as she held out her hand.

"When we do, we'll battle," I shook it. "But it's me who's going to come out the winner," I gestured towards myself.

"Did I just see that?" Aldor asked in a half joke.

"I know, even I can't believe it," Jasmine shrugged.

"Sure you will, or you'll be eating my dust as usual," Samantha gave a mean smile.

"I doubt it, it's going to be you who will eat _my_ dust this time," I challenged.

"And the moment's gone," Aldor sighed. Jasmine couldn't help give a small, quiet, chuckle.

"But I'll see you then," I told her.

"Yeah," Samantha agreed before turning around and started to walk the opposite direction of where we're going.

"Well, let's get moving," Aldor said before he started to walk. We all followed him, to the great unknown, we continued.


	17. Bounty for Greed

"Alright! Let's eat!" I exclaimed excitedly before looking down on my lunch with a watering mouth. For the menu today was yummy looking sandwiches and a cup of water. But because Aldor was the cook again, I'm sure it will be delicious.

"Hey! You forgot the side-dish, diced vegetables!" Aldor balanced two plates on his hands and one on the top his head as he steadily walked towards us. I got up and grabbed the dish on top of his head to help him out and sat back on my spot on the picnic table.

"Huh?" I looked at my empty plate. "Hey! Where's my sandwich! It was just here!" I searched the table.

"Knowing you, you probably ate it," Jasmine chuckled humorously as she sat down.

"It's not funny! I've been robbed!" I exclaimed. Grumbling steamily, I walked towards the dragons who were happily feasting on their bowls of dragon food. "Hey! Did one of you take it?!" I accusingly pointed at them. All of them looked up and immediately shook their heads. "Did you?" I pointed to Ghostwing, he shrieked before abruptly shaking his head. "Did you? Did you? Did you?" I pointed to all of the dragons. All of them shook their heads no, but I was still suspicious. "How about you? That long neck of yours could have made it easy for you to steal my sandwich," I pointed to Fin and Tin, they both shrieked before shaking their heads vigorously.

"Ashley, you know Fin and Tin would never steal food from you or anybody," Aldor said, coming to the defense of his green Zippleback.

"You never know, dragons can be very sneaky if they wanted to be!" I glared at Fin and Tin.

"Uh, Ashley, I think you might need to look up there," Jasmine pointed to a nearby tree. I looked up to see the bright red horned little devil. _Spring-shot_. Spring-shot hissed laughingly before he held up my sandwich tauntingly.

"Hey! My sandwich! Give it back!" The Terror gripped the sandwich in its mouth before turning itself on the branch, making me see its bright blue tail with a red arrow tip. It started to suddenly shake it at me mockingly. "Why you little! Come here!" I shouted to it angrily. It turned itself around again, took the sandwich out of its mouth then it did the unthinkable, it raspberried me! "You and me are going to have issues if you don't give me my sandwich now," I said, my face turning red from the anger.

"Na,na, nana, na," it hissingly growled while it shook its tail at me again.

"That's it," I rushed up towards the tree and looked up at the branch where Spring-shot was at. I grabbed onto the tree and started to scooch/climb upwards on the rough tree.

"I didn't know she could climb a tree," Jasmine commented.

"At this point, it's a futile attempt." Aldor said next.

I was finally close to the branch where Spring-shot was just looking at me coolly. "Give me that sandwich," I struggled to hold on as I reached for the dragon. It suddenly chortled loudly, falling over on its back. "What's so funny?" I asked coldly. Then I felt it, I was slipping, "Woah!" I exclaimed as I suddenly lost my grip, I was falling. I screamed in surprise until I hit flat bottom.

"Ooh! That's gotta hurt," Aldor cringed.

"You think she's alright?" Jasmine was cringing beside him.

"Heck, she fell off a cliff and lived to tell the tale, she's fine," Aldor said with a chuckle as I laid there in a daze.

"I think that's one for Spring-shot, and zero for Ashley." Jasmine said next before Aldor started to walk towards me.

"Hey, Ashley, you okay?" He propped me up. I shook my head, getting rid of the daze before looking at the Terror that was now eating my sandwich.

"Ugh, I give up," I grumbled while I painfully stroke my head.

"I can make another sandwich for you, easy," Aldor said as he helped me up.

"Fine," I grumbled as I brushed myself off.

* * *

A few minutes later, I was finally feasting on my lunch. My stomach felt so hollow.

"Alright, you ready to travel?" Aldor said as he shouldered on his backpack.

"You bet," Jasmine said excitedly as she put on her satchel.

"Fine," I stuffed the rest of my sandwich in my mouth and drank some water to swallow it down afterward. I then put on my backpack and got out my draco-balls. "Return," I said, still with a mouth full of sandwich. Sandstorm and Ghostwing returned and Eye-shine jumped onto my shoulder.

"Return, Fin and Tin," Aldor zapped his Zippleback back into its draco-ball.

"Spring-shot, return," Jasmine pointed the draco-ball towards her Terror, but instead of going in, it dodged the red beam of light. It hissed stubbornly before jumping onto Jasmine's shoulder. "You want to stay out? But you like the draco-ball," Jasmine said, looking at her Terror. It growled, it was determined to stay on the shoulder. Eye-shine immediately got jealous. "Okay, if you want to hang out here, that's fine." Jasmine said with a smile.

Eye-shine quietly hissed at Spring-shot, but it ignored it.

"Ugh, can we get going?" I asked annoyedly.

"Sure, we need to head that way," Aldor pointed in a direction.

* * *

 _For about an hour, we've been walking, it looked like it would be a normal day, clearly, I was wrong. I'm starting to find out that my journey was far from normal._

"I spy with my little eye something... blue," I said as we started a little game to keep up occupied.

"Is it the sky?" Aldor guessed.

"Logical answer, but no," I told him.

"Is it Spring-shot," Jasmine asked.

"Nope."

"Um, give us a clue," Aldor said.

"It's small, sings "good morning" in the morning and "good night" at dusk," I told him.

"That's not a clue, that's a riddle," Aldor complained.

"Same difference."

"Is it a blue bird?" Jasmine asked.

"Yes, that's right! How did you know?" I asked her.

"Because I usually wake up to their beautiful songs in the morning and say goodnight when they start singing again at dusk." Jasmine explained with a giggle.

"Okay, cool. Your turn." I told her.

"I spy with my little eye something... hey, Spring-shot is gone!"

"You're suppose to say the color or look of an object, and we're suppose to guess it, Jasmine," I explained, not really looking forwards to dealing with Eye-shine again.

"No, Spring-shot is gone, he's not on my shoulder!" Jasmine was starting to freak out.

"Knowing the prankster, it'll just sneak up on us and scare us as another prank," I groaned glumly.

"Yeah, he is known for that." Aldor said, giving a little smile.

"No, we have to find Spring-shot!" Jasmine exclaimed desperately.

"Ugh, do we have too?" I moaned.

"If Eye-shine was missing, you would search for it!" Jasmine was really panicking.

Me and Aldor looked at each other before we both sighed reluctantly, "Fine, but if I find it first, I'm going to kill it myself," I growled, I was clearly exaggerating, but Jasmine believed it. "I'm kidding," I told her.

* * *

"Spring-shot!" I shouted.

"Spring-shot!" Aldor shouted.

"Where is he?" Jasmine asked worriedly.

"Maybe if we use our dragons to help?" I suggested. "Come on out! Ghostwing and Sandstorm!" I tossed my draco-balls into the air to let my dragons out.

"Good idea, come on out, Fin and Tin!" His Zippleback came out with a boom.

"Maybe with more eyes, we can search Spring-shot faster." I said.

"Alright, Fin and Tin, help search for Spring-shot, start over there," Aldor pointed to the right.

"Ghostwing, you search the left and Sandstorm, you search by air. Eye-shine, you search through the tree-tops. Let's go everyone!" The dragons all parted, leaving us behind.

"Now, we search by ground," Aldor said. "We'll separate in different directions. Holler if you spot anything, okay?" Then he bolted to the left.

"Alright," with determination, Jasmine ran to the right.

"Ugh, is this even worth it?" I grumbled miserably before I went my own way.

* * *

"Spring-shot! Spring-shot! Where are you?" I called out, my throat was even starting to hurt. "Where are you, you little nuisance?" I gritted my teeth. Then, something made me stop and listen for moment. There it was again, a quiet shriek, it sounded like fear and desperation mixed into one screech. Listening again, I followed the screech until I came onto something that put horror into _me._ There was a greenish cage with thick bars, expertly covered with leaves and twigs to hide it. There was a sad and fearful groan as a little claw scratched at the bars.

"Spring-shot?" I knelt down to eye level with the dragon. It growled, looking at me happily while scratching at the bars vigorously. "Hold on, there must be something here to release the gate." I tore at the twigs and leaves until I saw the whole cage. Then I found a long latch that held the cage door closed, with a pop, door opened and Spring-shot bursted out and flew right into my arms. The dragon shivered with fear, burying its nose into my vest as it gripped me with its claws tightly. "It's okay," I said, stroking its head softly. _I wonder who set the_ trap? Suddenly, my anger toward Spring-shot faded as I held the frightened dragon closely. The poor thing was still shivering.

"Everybody's been looking for you," I told it, "Jasmine was so worried," I continued to stroke its head. I could tell he was starting to calm down a little bit. It growled softly as it crawled onto my shoulder.

I knelt down to inspect the cage some more. Spring-shot cowered in fear behind my shoulder as I got closer to the weird cage. I felt the green cage bars, they were flat and rough but really thick. It's also very small, a small dragon, like a Terrible Terror, would fit in it perfectly. It also had strange markings on it, like it was from another language or something. "Spring-shot, can you shoot a Flamethrower at it?" I asked him. Growling unsurely, it took a deep breath and launch a large Flamethrower at the cage. The bars glowed red for a second then it went back to normal.

"That's impossible," I felt the bars, they were as cool as a cucumber. "Regular metal would've melted at the touch of dragon fire," I thought for a moment. "Something's wrong," I could sense it. _Something was definitely wrong._ "Aldor! Jasmine!" I got up and ran, with Spring-shot flying beside me, I ran to where I had last seen my friends.

"Oh no," I stopped at the edge of the clearing where we were before we separated. Aldor and Jasmine were tied to a tree together while a couple of trucks were parked a little ways from.

"Load them up!" A voice barked meanly, quickly, I ducked into the bushes as a person appeared. I saw as he stopped in front of Aldor and Jasmine, peering down at them. He wore dark sagging clothes, big black army boots and had short brown hair but long bangs. His mouth was covered by a black mask, so his voice sounded muffled. But what caught my attention were his cold grey eyes that sent shivers through my body even I wasn't cold.

"What are you going to do to our dragons?!" Aldor growled angrily at the man.

"Nothing, boy, we're just giving them to new masters. You've been deemed unworthy to take care of these dragons." The guy said.

"Fin and Tin is my dragon! I would never treat it wrongly," Aldor shouted at the mysterious man.

"And when Ashley gets here, she's going to knock your... uh... butt into one of those cages!" Jasmine said, stuttering a little. I sort of knew what she would have said but she quickly corrected herself before saying it.

"Oh, there's another one of you? Guess I'm going to teach this next one a lesson as well." The guy chuckled darkly.

"Who are you?" Aldor then asked.

"I'm just a guy making a simple profit, the boss is going to pay a pretty penny for these dragons. Especially the white Nadder. Don't care much for the Gronckle and Zippleback, or Terrible Terror for that matter, but the more money I get, the better." He said.

 _What can I do? He has our dragons._ I looked at the large trucks, they were loading our caged dragons into them, I could see poor Eye-shine looking sadly past the bars. _We've gotta rescue them._ I looked at Spring-shot. _They may have got all of the dragons, but they're still missing one._

"Spring-shot, lend me your strength, it's time to put your pranks to good use." I whispered to it, balling up my firsts. A mischievous look glinted in his eyes as he nodded his head. I bent over and whispered to it. It smiled connivingly. "Alright," I looked at the masked man, he was still talking to Aldor and Jasmine. Instantly, I jumped out of the bushes and took an angry stance, staring down the surprised man.

"Oh," he laughed, "you must be Ashley. Ugh, it's not like I have enough problems to deal with." He grumbled.

"Let our dragons go!" I demanded.

"Oh, please, not another preacher. Look, kid, what are you going to do? What's the plan here?" He asked, spreading out his arms, daring me to come at him.

"This," I stated. "Ghostwing, return!" I pointed my draco-ball towards the caged Ghostwing, a red beam of light shot out towards my dragon. There was a zap as the beam of light hit the cage and dispersed. Ghostwing was still in the cage. "What happened?" I was a little confused.

"Oh, please, you think a bounty hunter wouldn't get dragon proof cages and be able to let the dragons return into their draco-balls? Either you're very stupid, or you just don't know anything about bounty hunters." He crossed his arms.

"Heh, uh," I stuttered.

"Oh, Ashley," Aldor shook his head embarrassingly.

"Don't tell me that that wasn't your only plan." He grumbled.

"Hmph, I'm Ashley Aldez, of course I have another plan," I smirked.

"'Aldez'?" His eyebrows went up.

"Now!" I shouted. From behind the guy, Spring-shot jumped out of the bush and blasted its flamethrower at the guy's heels. He jumped in surprise, looking behind him in time to duck from another Flamethrower. Quickly, I slipped past him, racing for a truck and aiming for the cages. Quickly, I unlatched Ghostwing's cage and threw open the door. "Quickly, get out!" I shouted at my dragon. Snarling, anger shining in his eyes, he ran out of the truck and headed for the guy who was still quarreling with Spring-shot. "Eye-shine, are you okay?" I unlatched the small cage with Eye-shine in it. It growled as it jumped into my arms happily. "Help me free the others!" I told it as I raced out of the truck and into the next one.

I gasped when I saw Sandstorm in a cramped cage, Fin and Tin was in another cage but they couldn't stretch, their tail was curled around them and their neck was bent in a way that looked very uncomfortable. "Hold on, guys, I'll get you out of there," I pulled at the latch, but it was wedge in there tightly.

"Hey! Leave those cages alone!" A gruff voice barked. Another man in dark clothing and a mask over his face appeared.

"Eye-shine! Flamethrower!" I commanded while I was still pulling at the latch. Happy to oblige, it spat out its Flamethrower, the guy yelped as he ducked. Grunting, I finally pulled the latch free and Sandstorm bursted out of the cage, happy to get out of its cramped prison. The outburst pushed me to the ground but I ignored it the pain. Getting up, I unlatched Fin and Tin's cage. "Go! Fin and Tin!" I opened the door wide enough for the large Zippleback to escape, in the process, it knocked down the goon while racing out of the truck. As I rushed after it with Eye-shine in front of me, I saw the goon giving me a funny glance, it wasn't anything I could describe on the fly, so I ignored it, I had other things to do than worry about one goon.

The man looked at me angrily as I rushed back into the clearing. "Pests," he gripped a draco-ball in his hand. "Go! Lava-burn!" He threw the draco-ball into the air and out came his dark red Monstrous Nightmare. It growled deeply as it stared at us with its piercing yellow eyes. "Kerosene Fire!" The man shouted to the top of his lungs. With a dark growl, the Monstrous Nightmare started blasting his liquidy fire at everything. The blast knocked Spring-shot out of the sky and threatened to burned everyone around. I braced myself as the fiery bits started to rain down upon me. Like lightning, Ghostwing raised his wings and shielded me and everyone else from the hot rain.

"I forgot, Ghostwing is part of the Sharp Class and Tracker CLass, he can withstand fire." I told myself.

"Pathetic!" The man hissed as the fiery attack stopped.

"Ghostwing, I choose you!" Ghostwing vengefully stepped in front of the group. "Eye-shine, free Aldor and Jasmine while I deal with this," I told my Terror. _Monstrous Nightmare is a Stoker Class, its fire type moves work work on Ghostwing. I have the advantage,_ I thought.

"Lava-burn! Kerosene Fire, once more!" He ordered loudly. Growling deeply, the Monstrous Nightmare blasted its liquidy fire towards Ghostwing like a volcano blasting its way through the air.

"Fly up and use Spine Shot!" I pumped my fist into the air as Ghostwing immediately took flight and unspiked his tail. Swiftly, he launched his deadly spikes towards the Monstrous Nightmare.

"Fly up to dodge them then use Fire Tail!" The man reacted. His Monstrous Nightmare got into the air, the spikes passing it by a mile before they all thudded on the ground. Then, the Monstrous Nightmares' tail suddenly lit up on fire as it zoomed towards Ghostwing. With force, the Monstrous Nightmare brought its fiery tail down on Ghostwing's head. Ghostwing screeched as he fell out of the air and crashed into the ground with a striking force. "I know that Deadly Nadders are fireproof, but their defense doesn't really stand for strong physical attacks." The man explained.

"You okay, Ghostwing?" I asked me dragon. Ghostwing stood up, wobbling on his legs. _That was a direct hit to the head, he's lucky to not be knocked out._

"Fin, use Gas attack, and Tin, use Spark attack!" Aldor's voice boomed as a blast of green gas enveloped the Monstrous Nightmare before a sudden spark cause it to explode madly. The Nightmare screeched as it was thrown backwards with brute force. I looked behind me, Aldor and Jasmine with Spring-shot in her arms were standing behind me. Eye-shine jumped onto my shoulder, huffing out puffs of angry smoke. Sandstorm stood on the left while Fin and Tin stood on the right. My friends had my back, and we stood together with our dragons.

"It appears I'm outnumbered, now," he looked at all of us with a angry scowl.

"This is what you get when you mess with our dragons, they're our friends, and we don't give them up that easily." I growled, holding my ground.

"Hmph, you say 'friends', I say profit. Lava-burn, use Kerosene Flame!" He shouted.

"Magnesium Blast!" I reacted, knowing the Ghostwing had recovered from the blow to the head. Ghostwing immediately shot his bright fire blast while Lava-burn fired upon command. The blasts connected with a crash, a loud explosion erupted instantly and smoke covered the area like a thick blanket. The blanket of smoke dispersed to see that the mysterious man had retreated. Everybody had bolted, the cages were gone, only the trucks remained.

"They got away," Jasmine was baffled. With just one distraction, they all disappeared, like nothing had ever happened.

A minute later, a woman with a blue police hat and uniform bursted in on her loud blue and white motorcycle demanding "What happened?"

"Officer, bounty hunters attacked us!" Aldor said urgently.

"Did one of them have grey eyes and acted like he was in charge?" She asked, tension was in her voice.

"Yes," I responded.

She hissed under her breath, "They got away, again," she clenched her fists angrily.

"Who was he?" Jasmine asked, still holding Spring-shot tightly in her arms.

"Vector Krall, the merciless bounty hunter who hunts dragons for profit. Or he just catches unique dragons sells them for a high price on the Market. That greedy piece of dragon dung." She took a deep breath. "Are you kids alright? Did he steal a dragon from you?" She asked in a more calm voice but still more worried than ever.

"He did, but we got them back." I said confidently.

"And we're all in one piece," Jasmine added.

"Hmm, I see that some of your dragons took damage, they'll need medical attention right away." She said.

"But we're at least another mile from Lightville Town, it could take another hour and a half to get there on foot." Aldor said.

"I've got cop cars coming, I can have one give you a lift to town." She said.

"Thank you so much," Aldor said relievingly as he returned his Zippleback. I returned my dragons as well, except for Eye-shine, but Jasmine insisted on holding Spring-shot instead of putting him in his draco-ball.

* * *

A few minutes later, a whole squad of cop cars raced into the clearing. And just like the Officer had promised, she let us get into a regular car with a driver that was happy to take us straight to the Dragon Center in Lightville Town.

"Thanks for the help!" I waved goodbye.

"Don't get into any more trouble. Stay safe, trainers!" She saluted a goodbye as the cop car sped away with us in it.

"The Officers can handle this, they'll figure this out," Aldor said confidently.

"Hey, thanks for saving us back there, Ashley," Jasmine said.

"Ah, it was nothing." I simply commented, even though I had the urge to brag.

"At first, you had me worried there. I thought you didn't have a plan. How did you know that your draco-ball wouldn't work when you tried calling back your dragon?" Aldor asked.

"It was just a hunch, but it was perfect enough for my "stupidity" to trick him long enough for Spring-shot to take it from there." I told them.

"I'm actually surprised that Spring-shot would even listen to you. He doesn't listen to anybody." Jasmine said as she stroked Spring-shot's head. He was laying on her lap, still drained and scorched from the battle.

"Well, let's just say that when Spring-shot was needed, he came." I subtly winked at Spring-shot, he smiled a little before he drifted off to sleep.

"At least our dragons are safe now." Aldor smiled. "And I'm grateful we aren't hurt either." Aldor put his arms around me and Jasmine's shoulders like we were best buds. Well, truth is, we are best friends. And nothing will ever change that.

* * *

 _As a treat for the long wait, a sneak peek of the next chapter._

Next up on I Choose You!

"What happened here?" The burnt forest was barren from life. The charred trees were smoking with small fires, the ground was filled with ashes and fallen black branches. Everything was dead. Everything.

"Who could have done this?" Aldor asked, taking in the horror that was presented in front of him.

"The poor trees. The poor flowers." Jasmine looked like she was about to cry as white specks of ash fell all around us.

"This was definitely no accident, somebody did this on purpose!" Anger coiled in me. Eye-shine though, was cowering in fear behind me, it was whimpering.

"Look out!" Aldor shouted.

"Fire Burst! No!" I screamed as I reached as far as I could, I strained myself to catch up to them. _I can't make it!_

" _I am alone, I am abandoned. I am a memory. I am... me."_ A smile gleamed in the darkness. _"I am coming for you."_


	18. We All Love Dragons, Right?

"So, you guys are dragon trainers, right?" The guy driving the car asked. It was just a regular car, no special logo or anything.

"Yeah, we just got caught up in this mess." Aldor just simply said as he adjusted himself in the middle back seat.

"I know, usually, people who counter Vector Krall don't see their dragons again. He is a thief and likes to play dirty." The Officer said disgust-fully.

"I hate him," Jasmine huffed, Jasmine sat in the left back seat while I sat on the right. I was in my own world, staring out the window.

"Don't we all," the Officer said afterwards as he continued to drive on the road heading for Lightville Town.

"Hey, what's that?" Jasmine pointed to the right side window next to the driver seat. The Officer stopped the car with a squeak of the breaks.

"I don't know," he replied. Still staring out the window, I saw dark smoke filling the sky in the distance. Looked like a fire had started there.

"That's going to be a problem." The Office stated. "A fire could burn down the whole forest. We're going to have to take a detour. Hold on, kids," he lifted his foot off of the breaks and turned the car towards the side of the road and parked it. Grabbing his walkie-talkie, he started talking into it, reporting the fire. Through the window, I looked around, that was when I saw a shadowy figure zipping through the forest.

"Hey, what's that," I pointed, everyone except the Officer looked.

"I don't see anything," Aldor said. The shadow moved again.

"Hey, I saw it." Jasmine said. "It's heading towards the direction of the fire," she said next. Something inside me wanted to check it out, but another part was holding me back.

"Hey, Officer, can I step out? I'm not that really comfortable in cars. It's so cramped." I said, adding a little beg in the tone.

"The car is unlocked, just don't run off." He warned as he continued to fiddle with the walkie-talkie.

"Ashley, what are you doing?" Aldor whispered under the hearing of the Officer. I gave him a look before I opened the car door and stepped outside. "Ashley!" He softly called after me before he scooted to my seat beside him and got out.

"Come on, can't we just sit down for once?" Jasmine said as leaned over the seats to look at us. "We have too many adventures for our own good." She criticized, she knew where we were going, and she wasn't pleased. But, quietly, she returned Spring-shot and scooted to the right car seat.

"Then stay in the car," I scolded her.

"And miss something? I'm sane enough in mind, but I'd rather be walking than waiting." She said with her arms crossed.

"Then, let's go!" I jumped with a quiet excitement, careful not to alert the Officer.

"Wait up!" She called after us as she stumbled out of the car and walked towards us.

Soon, we left, it was only a moment later that the Officer finally noticed.

"Kids," he huffed. "Don't they know it's dangerous out there?" He placed his hands on his hips, shaking his head.

* * *

Meanwhile, we were still following the mystery dragon, the smell of smoke got more intense as we moved forward. I pushed away some ferns that were in my way to behold a disturbing and scary sight.

"What happened here?" I asked as I stepped forward, my friends were behind me, all bearing the same shock as me. The forest was barren from life. The charred trees were smoking with small fires, the ground was filled with ashes and fallen black branches.

"This was not started normally. Who could have done this?" Aldor asked himself, taking in the horror that was presented in front of him.

"The poor trees. The poor flowers." Jasmine looked she was about to cry as white specks of ash fell all around us. She knelt down, picked up a charred pine cone and held it tightly in her hands. Everything was dead. Everything. On the ashen ground, I could make out a footprint- a dragon footprint. It was small, smaller than a Deadly Nadder's, but too big for a Terrible Terror.

"Hey, Aldor, do you know what could have left that?" I asked him, pointing at the print.

"I can't say I do. The footprint is unfamiliar to me." He bent down and inspected the footprint some more. "But I'm more worried about the fire. Something has started it." He said.

"Yeah," I agreed, "this was definitely not an accident. Somebody did this on purpose." Anger coiled in me. Eye-shine, though, was moaning fearfully, it cowered on my shoulder. It whimpered slightly.

"Now we don't know that for sure. It could have been an accident." Aldor said.

"Hmph, after the incident with that Bounty Hunter, I'm not taking a chance." I crossed my arms.

"Look out!" Aldor shouted but I didn't see it coming until it was too late. Something crash landed and knocked me into the ground with an 'oomph'. Even though the ground was soft with ash, it still stung a little.

"Hey, a Monstrous Nightmare," Aldor marveled at the thing on my back.

"Get off of me!" I shouted.

"Don't have to be so rude, Ashley," Jasmine moved to pick up the small Monstrous Nightmare. Sighing, I got up and saw how much ash had gotten onto my shirt, vest, and pants. Grumbling irritably, I grabbed the edge of my shirt and started to shake it violently. Most of the ash fell off, but the rest smeared on my shirt as I kept waving it. My arms and hands were stained grey and black from the stuff. "Oh, great, it will never wash off." I complained as the ash continuously smeared some more on my shirt.

"It's a hatchling." Aldor said with a smile.

"It's so cute!" Jasmine squealed.

"Oh, yeah, don't worry about me, I'm fine!" I grumbled at them, feeling a little annoyed.

"I guess we found the cause of the fire. Baby Monstrous Nightmares tend to be trigger happy when they're a few weeks old." Aldor rubbed his chin. The baby shined its big yellow eyes cutely.

"Aw! You're so cute!" Jasmine exclaimed again.

"It's just a dragon. And a troublesome one if it torched this part of the forest." I grumbled again. The dragon turned its head, looking at me. It had red scales with tints of orange and black on them. His black stripes hadn't come out yet. It cooed delightfully, showing its puppy dog eyes.

"Okay, admittedly, it's cute. But look what it did to my shirt!" I gestured to my blue-green shirt now stained grey from the ash.

"It's just a shirt, Ashley. It'll wash off." Aldor said stroked the small dragon, earning him a happy purr. "But it's still very confusing, the footprint doesn't belong to the Monstrous Nightmare either." Aldor said.

"That doesn't matter. Can we get back to the car so we can get to the Dragon Center." I grumbled miserably. _Achoo!_ I shouted suddenly, stupid ash had gotten into my nose, now it's making me sneeze. Aldor let out a hefty giggled.

"Sure," he answered, voice quavering from the giggle.

"Oh, can we keep the dragon?" Jasmine asked.

"Well," Aldor scratched his head before he looked around. "I don't see any sign of the mother, but she might return. So, no, we can't keep it. If we keep a dragon from its baby, you can expect a very bad repercussion." He finally answered.

"Oh, okay," Jasmine looked down. She had already gotten attached to the dragon. "Sorry, little guy, but we can't keep you," she hesitantly set it down. It looked up at her happily.

"Before you change your mind, let's go," Aldor said, starting to walk away

"Bye, bye," she waved goodbye to the dragon before she turned her back and walked with Aldor. Quickly, I followed them, resisting the urge to look back.

"You know, Ashley, you're very dirty at the moment," Aldor teased.

"I KNOW!" I snapped at him.

"Now I know why Lyza called you "Ash"," he joked. I growled.

Lyza, or Lyz, was a girl who we met at the first Dragon Center I've been too. Eye-shine was suffering from "lack of flame", and Lyz was there to have her Deadly Nadder, Zaza, healed after an earlier battle. She challenged me to a dragon battle but I sorely lost, but I wasn't too upset, it was my first battle, after all. She used slang words when she talked, and was always full of energy. I wonder how she's doing?

We finally made it to the car.

"What happened to you?" the cop raised a brow curiously.

"A dragon happened," I grumbled miserably.

"Well, try not to get any of that stuff on the seats." He tried to hold in a chuckle but failed. I sort of didn't feel good, he was laughing at me. I hate it when people laughed at me. It brought me foul memories.

Anyway, we quickly got into the car and drove off. But we were unaware of a shadow following us mysteriously.

* * *

"Good Lord," Nurse Livosky exclaimed when she saw me. She had a light green nurse outfit on and dark hair tied in a pony tail. "What happened to you?" She asked.

"There was a fire and a dragon knocked her into a large pile of ash." Aldor answered.

"Oh," she nodded understandingly. "I've heard about the fire, they say that a Monstrous Nightmare caused it." She replied.

"Can we rent a room?" I asked her grumpily.

"Yes," she nodded. Aldor gave her the money for one room with three beds.

"And will you, please, take care of our dragons?" Aldor asked as he got out his draco-ball.

"Of course," she said with a smile. I gave her mine as well.

"Eye-shine, go with Aldor," I told my Terrible Terror. Growling, it jumped from my shoulder to Aldor's. "I'm going to take a shower." I said as Nurse Livosky gave me the key to Room 23.

"Alright, we're going to check out the town." Jasmine said excitedly.

"Yeah, and find that Gym." Aldor said as they started to exit the building. Grumbling, I made my way down the hall, getting strange looks from various people. I wanted to hide myself. As if I couldn't get find the room soon enough, I fumbled with the key, slid it into the rock and turned it, I turned the hanfle and went in. Quickly, I picked out a red shirt and some jeans from my backpack and quickly undressed in the bathroom.

After a hot shower and a quick dress up in my bright red shirt and blue jeans, I didn't put on my vest because it was still dirty. I put the dragon-dext into my pocket and came out of the bathroom, still drying my hair. That was when I heard a small chirping sound outside the window. At first, I thought it was a bird, but the shadow was a little too big. I went over to the window and pulled the tan curtain back.

"Oh no," my face turned white. The little Monstrous Nightmare chirped happily at the sight of me. "No, go away! You caused me enough trouble." I told it. "Shoo!" I yelled as I closed the curtain. I could hear it scratch at the window continuously as I quickly brushed my hair. "I said go away! Go back to wherever you came from!" I snapped at it. Once my hair was halfway dry, I rushed to the door, slammed it shut and quickly locked it.

"Hey, I'm happy to report that your dragons are feeling better." Nurse Livosky held out a tray with three draco-balls in it.

"Thanks, Nurse," I took the three draco-balls and stuck them onto the helm of my pants, the extra I held in my hand. "I'll see you later," I told her before I headed for the glass doors. _If the dragon followed me from the forest, then it will surely follow me out here. I've gotta take cover. Or I can disguise myself._ Taking my bracelet Jasmine gave me, I grabbed my hair, and quickly made a tight ponytail.

I knew it wasn't going to be enough, but I didn't have anything else. I went outside and walked as fast and unnoticably as I could. Down the street, I saw Aldor and Jasmine enjoying a vanilla ice cream cone on a bench. They were happily talking to each other.

"Hey!" I called to them.

"Hey!" Aldor called back.

"Wow, you look different. You don't have your vest on and you're wearing a red shirt. And you've got you hair up." Jasmine said in awe, I think it was a compliment. Eye-shine jumped onto my shoulder happily. Quickly, I gave Aldor his draco-ball, he stuck it onto his belt.

"Am I being followed?" I asked them.

"By who? I don't see anything." Aldor said as he looked behind me. That was when I heard the fast flapping of wings.

"Not again," I moaned as I looked up in time to see a figure coming towards me. In an instant, the thing crashed onto my head, I fought to keep my balance but I fell towards the ground anyway. Flat on my back, I felt the Monstrous Nightmare sitting on my stomach.

"Hey, it's back," Jasmine said in a cute tone.

"How did it find us?" Aldor said in a confused manor.

"Who cares! I want to hold it again!" Jasmine picked up the little Monstrous Nightmare and cuddled it lovingly. When the weight was removed, I sat up. Eye-shine cooed with worry, nudging my hand.

"I'm fine." I smiled. Groaning, I got up and brushed off my jeans. _At least I'm not covered in ash, just dust._

"How could it follow us?" Aldor asked again.

"Well, it stopped by our bedroom window. I tried to sneak out but it didn't work." I grumbled.

"It's destiny! We were meant to meet this little guy," Jasmine rubbed the Nightmare's chin, its eyes lolled with delight.

"Did you find the Gym?" I asked, ignoring the fact that she said that.

"Yeah, it's on the outskirts of the town. The Gym leader is a guy named Steven Tyke, a Stoker Class trainer." Aldor explained.

"Cool," I replied. "Ghostwing will be a good dragon to counter his Stoker Class dragons. I'll put Sandstorm first to weaken the first dragon then I'll send in Eye-shine. It can blast it with a Flamethrower." I told them.

"Remember, fire type moves don't have that much of an effect against Stoker Class dragons. You're going to have to be careful. Even Ghostwing's Magnesium Blast won't do as much damage. Remember that fight with that hunter?" Aldor asked.

"How could I not?" I rolled my eyes.

"What I'm saying is that you should do some more training so you'll be prepared, anything can happen in a Gym battle. Tables can turn very fast is you don't watch out." He cautioned.

"That's all good and stuff, but what do we do about this guy?" Jasmine gestured to the little Monstrous Nightmare she was still carrying.

"If we put it back in the forest, I fear that it will only come back. I guess we can keep it if it likes to hang around us." Aldor shrugged. Sighing, I took down my pony tail and wrapped the stretchy bracelet around my wrist before I started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Jasmine asked.

"I'm going to train." I responded.

* * *

"Sandstorm, Lavablast!" I commanded. Instantly, Sandstorm let out her fiery sludge of lava at a rock. I had managed to find a place that was perfect for training in the edge of the forest. But it was late in the afternoon and the sun was starting to get lower over the mountains. "Good job, Sandstorm." I rubbed her head. "Now show me your defense curl!" I encourage. Immediately, she she curled herself into a large ball. "Eye-shine, Flamethrower at Sandstorm!" I said next. Swiftly, Eye-shine jumped up and launched a Flamethrower that glanced off of Sandstorm like it was nothing. Sandstorm uncurled, panting happily as she wagged her stubby tail.

"Ghostwing! Test your speed, fly up then dive!" I told him. Roaring, he raised his great white wings and with a single flap, he was in the air like a comet. Doing a small flip, he headed back down, tucking in his wings so he can get up to maximum speed on his dive. As he got closer, he suddenly spread out his wings, stopping himself suddenly before smashing into the ground. Dust flew as he, then, kicked the ground with his feet to propel his upwards. With a single flap, he was in the air again. "Good job, Ghostwing. Sandstorm, your turn. Fly up." I told it. The dragon opened its wings and started to flutter them insanely fast. Pathetically, it started to slowly move upwards. "We'll work on that," I told her. "Eye-shine, Ghostwing, we're going to play a little game of tag. Eye-shine, you have to tag Ghostwing by touching him. But Ghostwing has to get away from you. You have to chase him. Alright, go!" Immediately, Eye-shine flew upwards like a rocket to where Ghostwing was hovering.

The game continued, and let's just say that it was a very fast game. But what I didn't realize was that somebody was still in the shadows, watching me.

"Alright, Sandstorm, another Lavablast at that rock!" I commanded. But Sandstorm didn't respond, instead, she ran up to the rock before she did a quick spin and smashed the rock into pieces with her tail like it was nothing. Dumbfounded, I wasn't sure how to respond. Getting my Dragon-dext out of my pocket, I scanned her. "This is great! You learn another move! I'm so proud of you, Sandstorm." I hugged her tightly. Ghostwing landed beside Sandstorm along with Eye-shine, he gave her a nod of approval.

Sandstorm beamed, wagging her thick tail.

"Ashley!" I heard Jasmine shout.

"What?!" I called back.

"Fire Burst is gone," she sounded tense.

"Who's Fire Burst?" I asked.

"The little Monstrous Nightmare. I turned my back for one second and then he was gone!" She looked flustered.

"He probably went back to the forest." I suggested.

"But I want to make sure he's safe. He's so small, he could get hurt," she said frantically.

"Where's Aldor?" I asked next.

"He's asking if anyone had seen him. I came looking for you in case he wanted to watch you train." She answered.

"Hm, no, I haven't seen him. Have ya'll?" I asked my dragons. They all shook their heads.

"I just wanted to make sure. I'm so worried about him, he's only a baby!" Her eyes were starting to look red and watered.

"Hey, I'll help you look for him. We'll find him, I'm sure we will, but you have to calm down." I said as soothingly as possible. "Return, everyone," I held out two draco-balls, Ghostwing and Sandstorm went in without a fight while Eye-shine jumped onto my shoulder. "Where was the last place you saw him?" I asked her.

"At our rented room, the door was open, I was getting a hair brush cause my hair was starting to frizz. The moment I turned around he was gone." She explained, holding back the tears.

"He's still a baby, I'm sure he's just playing around." I told her.

"I hope you're right," she whimpered.

As we started to walk back towards the city, Eye-shine gave a shrill screech, it sounded like a warning.

"What is it?" I asked it. Immediately, it jumped off of my shoulder and took flight. "Hey! Eye-shine!" I called to it but I followed it anyway. Jasmine was right behind me, albeit a little hesitant. As I continued to follow it, I started to smell something a little too familiar- smoke.

"Not another fire," Jasmine groaned.

"Yeah, all too familiar," I grumbled. As we got closer, there was a fearful yelp and some angry roaring up ahead. Reacting, we started to pick up the pace, heading towards the direction the noise came from, only to find what we didn't expect.

"Fire Burst!" Jennifer shouted in horror.

"Who's that dragon?" I asked myself, I fumbled for the Dragon-dext and pointed it towards the snake-like dragon.

 _"Grapple Grounder, the snake-like dragon and part of the Boulder Class of dragons. This dragon is very aggressive, constricting its prey like a snake. It's faster to wrap its prey then firing Pulse Blasts. Shot limit: six."_ Dexter informed.

"Grapple Grounder. I've heard of them, but never seen one." I looked at the scarlet red dragon, yellow rings covered its skinny body. Its neck is slender as well as its tail. Small horns poked out of its head and it had flimsy wings. It, indeed, looked more like a snake.

"It's bullying Fire Burst!" Jasmine exclaimed. The Grapple Grounder smacked its arrow tipped tail against Fire Burst, sending it flying. Without thinking, I intersected Fire Burst's path, using my body as a cushion. I yelled in pain as my back smacked against the tree, colors flew in my eyes.

"Ashley!" Jasmine yelled. I opened my eyes to see the Grapple Grounder reaching for Fire Burst.

"No!" I tried to shield Fire Burst as much as I could, but the Grapple Grounder grabbed him with his small claws. Raising its wings, it started to take flight, carrying Fire Burst with it. Groaning, I unsteadily got up and started to run for it. "Fire Burst! No!" I screamed as I reached as far as I could, I strained myself to catch up to them. _I can't make it!_

Suddenly, a glob of green liquid smacked into the Grapple Grounder, there was a sizzle and a horrible screech of pain. The dragon let go of Fire Burst as it flew out of control. Quickly, I lunged for Fire Burst, luckily catching it. The mystery green glob splattered everywhere as the dragon tried to shake it off. The spots it had landed started to steam and sizzle, it was acid. Panicking, the Grapple Grounder flew out of sight, the echo of painful roars following it.

"Where did that come from?" Jasmine asked as I got up, holding Fire Burst tightly in my arms.

"Don't you kids know that it's dangerous to be out here this close to night? There are wild dragon out here." A female voice huffed. We turned around to see an unfamiliar figure in the shadows.

"Hey. Name's Itami."

* * *

"Please! Give me another chance!" A voice shouted desperately at a figure on a dark balcony inside a building. You could only see his dark shadow, none of his features showed clearly.

"You almost caused us our downfall, why would I accept you back?" His dark voice echoed through the hollow walls of the building.

"Because I'm the best. You need me!" The voice called up to him. The person fell to their knees, begging for mercy.

"If you really want it so badly, you will have to find them. They're out there, I know they are. So find them, and maybe I'll let you back into our ranks." The dark voice said, breathing shallowly.

"Yes, sir," the person got up and saluted him before walking off. In their mind, they had dark thoughts filling it.

 _"I am alone, I am abandoned. I am a memory. I am... me._ A smile gleamed in the darkness. _I am coming for you. I will find you."_

* * *

I just want to let you guys know, I will be taking character requests, now.

Requirements:

List your character as either friend, foe, or rival. Also, if your character has dragons, be sure to describe them clearly, as in their color, personality, name, reletionship with their trainer, etc. Your character cannot have more the six dragons. No Night Furies. Keep the "shiny" dragons to a minimal and they cannot have any unnatural super powers like immotaility or things like that.

When doing your character, be sure to describe him or her in clear words. Be sure to have their eye color, hair style, clothes, and personality listed (maybe even add a back story to them if you wish) clearly so I can understand it and read it easily. And like the dragons, they cannot have any unnatural powers either. Also, if you want your character to be in the League, let me know. (You can also make more than one character if you want.)

Private Message me your character. If I have any questions (or vise versa) about your character, I will P.M. you back.

I will also give credit to the owner of the character when he or she is used. Even if the character isn't used for this book, that doesn't mean they won't be used later on.

Alright, I hope you all have a great day!


	19. A Strange World

We stared at the woman, dumbfounded. She looked to be about twenty four years old. Her crystal blue eyes were fierce, her features were sharp. She looked like a viper ready to strike at any moment. The way she had her hair set up, it was weird. Long bangs covered most of her right eye loosely but left her left eye free to see. Her hair was long, a little below her shoulders, but she had two thick pieces of hair towards the top of her head that were tied, almost like a ponytail but not quite. The tied hair fell over the rest of her hair that was left long. She also had silvery white tips on her bangs and the ends of her hair. It looked fierce with her jet-black hair.

Her outfit was also strange. Her shirt was longer, coming below her waist. But what's more was that it started to split at her stomach and grow wider further down until it ended at the edge of the shirt. Thankfully she had another white shirt under it or it would've showed her tummy. The edges of the shirt were frilled with white that look good against its dark grey. At the shoulders and a little lower to the chest, it was all black except for the middle of the grey shirt. She wore skinny grey pants that soon turned into thick black and white striped stockings that came below the knees. A thin black belt was strapped to her pants, containing some of her draco-balls. She had thick grey boots, looked more like stylish combat boots, with white outlining black at the back of them, they were laced with black shoestring. She also had a light blue choker around her neck.

"Who are you?" Jasmine asked, still a little confused. The woman let out a hefty chuckle.

"My name's Itami. I just saved your necks." She said, crossing her arms.

"Was that you with the green goop?" I asked her.

"No," she shook her head. Her voice was calm, yet, terrifying. When her eyes shifted towards us, I felt shivers running up and down my spine. "That was my dragon." She replied.

"Uh," Jasmine and I looked around. "I don't see it." Jasmine said, still looking around.

"That's because it's right behind you," she said. We turned around but still didn't see anything. All of a sudden, the air in front of us started to shimmer, turning a dull silver. I yelped in surprise when a the figure finally formed into a dragon. I took a step back to marvel the creature. It had a dull silvery color with occasional black scales and a darkish grey-red underbelly. It was leaning on its back legs but it looked to be more quadrupedal. It had an underbite with large spiking teeth rowing its gums. Large nostrils and a long nasal horn on top of its snout. Two large horns protruded from the sides of its head. There were also two tendrils with leafing stubs coming out of the sides. Its yellow eyes shined with curiosity.

Shakily, I reached for my dragon-dext and pointed it at the dragon.

 _"Changewing, the camouflage dragon, and part of the Mystery Class of dragons. This dragon has the ability to camouflage itself through any surrounding area and stealthily look for prey. This dragon likes to hunt in packs of no more than three to five, but even when alone, this dragon is very dangerous."_ Dexter replied.

"It can spit hot acid at things. But that dragon should be fine. Dragon scales are tougher than rocks or wood." Itami said.

"But that Grapple Grounder was screaming in pain." Jasmine said.

"I said it "should" be fine, I didn't say it _was_ fine." Itami answered, brushing her silver-tipped bangs out of her face only for them to return to where they were before. The dragon growled. "Memory, return," Itami got out a draco-ball and shot a red beam of light towards the dragon. It returned with no trouble. Still mystified, I sort of forgot that I was still holding the baby Monstrous Nightmare, Fire Blaze.

"Ashley, it's already night, we need to get going." Jasmine warned.

"Yeah," I looked back at Itami. "Bye," I wavered her good-bye, she slightly waved back. Hurriedly, we retreated out of the woods, following the lights of the town.

 _There was just something peculiar about that woman, she just looked like she would hold a deadly secret. She looked like she was hiding something._

* * *

Once we were sort of in town, we started to head for the Dragon Center.

"You know, I appreciate that woman helping us out, but she didn't have to hurt that Grapple Grounder." Jasmine said.

"It was kind of mean," I slightly agreed, "but that Grapple Grounder would have taken Fire Blaze away."

"Yeah," she answered unsurely.

"Hey!" We heard Aldor's voice call to us. We turned around.

"Did you find Fire Blaze?" He asked us as he jogged towards us.

"Yeah," I showed him the dragon that was still in my arms. It's been through alot, so it was sleeping.

"You guys look rough, what happened?" He asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"A Grapple Grounder was attacking Fire Blaze. Ashley tried to save him, but, we would have lost him if it wasn't for a woman name "Itami"." Jasmine answered.

"Itami?" He questioned with a raised brow.

"Yeah, anyway, we need to get to the Dragon Center, Fire Blaze needs tending." Jasmine said.

"Yeah, sure, uh, I'll order us some dinner." Aldor offered.

"Cool," I answered as me, Jasmine, and Aldor started to make our way to the Dragon Center. Aldor immdediately went to the lunchroom while we headed for the counter.

"Hi, Jasmine," Nurse Livosky greeted sweetly.

"Hi, we found Fire Blaze," she gestured to the dragon I was holding in my hands.

"Oh, thank goodness. I'm so happy for you." She clapped her hands excitedly.

"But he needs help." Jasmine said with a note of seriousness in her voice.

"Of course. I'll take care of him." Gently, I gave Nurse Livosky Fire Blaze and watched her walk into another room.

"Well, all we have to do is wait. I bet Aldor already has the food ready for us." My stomach grumbled hungrily at the thought of food. I licked my lips in response.

* * *

"Dinner is here!" Aldor announced as we waited in a booth. He handed us ,each, a plate with a large cheese burger and fries steaming hotly and three cold Cokes. Jasmine, who was sitting in front of me, started to munch on the fries. Aldor sat beside her and started to dig in. Hungrily, I bit into my fat hamburger. Loads of flavors exploded in my mind in doing so. I swallowed.

"Oh, Ashley," Aldor mumble through a mouthful of food before he forcefully swallowed. "I left a surprise in our room. I think you'll like it." He said.

"Why?" I asked him, munching on a fry.

"Well, I was thinking on how much of a rough day you had, so I got you a surprise." He said, squirting ketchup from a ketchup bottle over his fries.

"Oh, that reminds me, I need to call my mom," I suddenly said.

"You can call her after supper." Aldor suggested.

"Ooh, I haven't met your mom yet. What is she like?" Jasmine asked.

"Well..." I couldn't find the right words.

"She's a very interesting woman, I'll say that," Aldor said with a hefty chuckle.

"Heh, Aldor talked to her, and, let's say it ended awkwardly," I scratched the back of my head, feeling my cheeks getting a little warm.

"We all have crazy family members," Aldor laughed, Jasmine chuckled along with him.

* * *

After supper, I immediately headed for the video phone and dialed.

"Hey, Mom!" I said as her face appeared on the screen.

"Ashley! I'm glad to see you're doing well." She exclaimed happily. "Aldor, it's good to see you too."

"You too, it's been some time." Aldor replied.

"Who's that behind you?" Mom asked.

"This is Jasmine, she's joined our group," I put my arm around her, she felt a little stiff as color left her face. She liked to hang back, so when her name is called, she's always as stiff as a stone.

"Nice to meet you, Jasmine." She greeted with a smile.

Silently, Jasmine gave a small smile, though she ducked her head, letting her curly red hair hide most of her face. _Still shy, I guess._

"Come on, Jasmine," I urged her, "it's okay."

"H-hi, Mrs. Aldez," she stuttered, looking up from the folds of her hair.

"Hi," Mom greeted back.

"So, how are you doing, Mom?" I turned towards her.

"I'm doing good here. It's been very quiet ever since you left. How's your journey going?" She asked me.

"Oh, it's going great. I won another Gym badge and I'm going to win another very soon." I told her.

"Well, then I wish you the best of luck, Ashley." She smiled proudly.

"Thanks, Mom." I smiled back.

"I've got to go, honey, I'll see you later," she finally said.

"Okay, bye," I hanged up.

"So, that's your Mom," Jasmine said finally, recovering from her "shy-attack".

"Yeah," I said with a slight chuckle.

"Sorry I couldn't be more talkative, but, every time I'm addressed to by another person, I freeze up. I can't help it." She shrugged helplessly.

"It's okay, it was your first talk, no need to get worked up." I told her.

"Yeah, we just need to work on your people skills." Aldor encouraged her, wrapping his arm around her.

"Thanks, guys," she said softly.

Without another word, we all started to head back to our room.

"Hey!" We heard Nurse Livosky call to us. "Your Monstrous Nightmare has fully recovered, you can retrieve him now." She said from her desk. Another minute and she would have missed us.

"I'll get him, ya'll just head for room 23." I offered.

"Okay," Jasmine and Aldor said.

"Go with them, Eye-shine, I won't belong." Growling, Eye-shine jumped off of my shoulder and hovered in the air as they started to head for our room.

I walked up to Nurse Livosky who had Fire Blaze on a silver tray. He chirped happily at the sight of me.

"You know, I'm still angry at you for earlier, but, I guess I glad to see you're okay." I said to him. Immediately, he jumped into my arms, catching me a little off guard.

Chuckling awkwardly, I held the dragon in place. "Thanks Nurse Livosky." I looked at the Nurse, smiling.

"It was no problem," she answered kindly. "Oh, and, be sure that the dragon doesn't start any fires in your room." She warned.

"Sure thing, ow, Blaze Fire, watch the claws," I groaned as he climbed onto my shoulders proudly. He growled happily, his puppy dog eyes shining. I laughed, "Come on," my voice cracking from the laughter.

* * *

We had finally made it to the room, Aldor and Jasmine were already fast asleep, both snoring softly on their bunk beds. Jasmine was on the left side, sleeping on the bottom bunk whilst Aldor slept on the bottom bunk on the left. I assumed that the top bunk on top of Jasmine would be mine. My backpack was already on that side of the room anyway. I let out a yawn as I grabbed my bag and headed for the bathroom to change. A few minutes later, I came out with blue striped Pj's, that were very soft and comfortable, on.

I heard Fire Blaze chirp below me, it wagged its long tail.

"Go sleep with Jasmine," I told it. Confused, it tilted its head. "Or just sleep down here." I shrugged, it was too late to start arguing with a dragon. Suddenly feeling exhausted, I climbed onto the ladder, making Eye-shine lift its head curiously. I flashed a small smile towards it.

That was when I saw something on the bed, something dark and neatly folded. I picked up it up, _my vest_ , I would know. It smelled faintly of flowers and it didn't feel like there was any ash on it. I turned my head to look at Aldor who had his back to me, _he must have cleaned it for me, that was nice_ , I mouthed a silent _thank you_ towards him before hugging my vest tightly. I held fond memories with this vest, and I plan to keep it with me forever. Yawning, a set the vest on the side railing at the end of the bunk bed and started to settle into bed.

With Eye-shine breathing slowly and softly by my side, it was like a lullaby. Absent mindedly, I stroked it softly as I simultaneously looked at the ceiling, lost in my mind. _Gym battle tomorrow, I hope we're ready,_ was the last thought in my head. With a deep breath, I went into a deep and sound sleep.

* * *

Character Credit:

Itami is not my character, the credit goes to SkrillFanFics. So, I thank you, SkrillFanFics, it was great and challenging road to plan her part in the story, but I had a blast. I can't thank you enough for letting me use such an awesome character!

Itami will return...


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